FLOAT 100 · Jewelry · No. 70
Bvlgari Bvlgari (BB) Onyx Necklace (18k gold)
It began as a Christmas gift for a jeweler's 100 best clients in 1975, borrowed its lettering from the rims of ancient Roman coins, and taught the luxury world that a house could write its name twice and call it design: this small onyx disc on a gold chain carries that double logo today.
- Year
- current
- Maker
- Bulgari
- By price in jewelry
- 96 of 100
Create a free account to see every recorded price and every grade.
Create a free account- Maker
- Bulgari, Rome
- Model
- Bvlgari Bvlgari necklace, reference 350554
- Materials
- 18-karat yellow gold chain and pendant, set with black onyx
- Length
- 16 to 17 inches (41 to 43 cm)
- Motif
- The double BVLGARI BVLGARI logo, inspired by the curved inscriptions on ancient Roman coins
- Roots
- The 1975 Bulgari Roma watch, a gift to the house's top 100 clients, and the 1977 Bvlgari Bvlgari watch
- U.S. retail
- $2,280 on Bulgari's U.S. site as of October 2026
A gift for 100 clients
The double logo started on a watch. At Christmas in 1975 Bulgari sent its top 100 clients a limited-edition digital watch engraved 'BULGARI ROMA.' It had a gold case and an unconventional macramé strap, and it was never meant for sale. Demand spread by word of mouth, and the Rome store found more and more clients asking for it.
Accounts differ on who drew it. One account says Gianni Bulgari designed the Roma himself as a personal gift; another says he turned to the watch designer Gérald Genta, known for the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, to help, and that it was Genta who chose to engrave the name with a Latin V around the bezel. Both agree that in 1977 Genta reworked the design into the first commercial series, the Bvlgari Bvlgari, with the house name engraved twice around the bezel.
Bulgari says the inspiration came from ancient Roman coins, on which the emperor's portrait was surrounded by inscriptions of power and prestige, and that the cylindrical case was modeled on the columns of Roman temples. The house describes the double logo as becoming the watch's notoriety, with the buzz spreading even though it was not advertised.
From the wrist to the neck
The engraved ring of letters translated easily from a watch bezel to anything round. Bulgari's archive shows Bvlgari Bvlgari gold and mother-of-pearl necklaces from 2008, gold and diamond Bvlgari Bvlgari pendants on gold chains from 2009, a Bvlgari Bvlgari hobo bag from 2011 and a yellow and white gold Tubogas snake watch-bracelet with the logo from around 1980.
The onyx necklace, reference 350554, is one of the simplest expressions of the idea: an 18-karat yellow gold pendant set with black onyx, on an 18-karat yellow gold chain 16 to 17 inches long. Bulgari describes it as a fusion of culture and modernity, and says the double logo, 'initially inspired by the curved inscriptions on ancient coins,' has evolved into 'playful and unexpected interpretations.'
The V in BVLGARI is itself a Roman touch. The logo, adopted under the founder's sons Constantino and Giorgio after 1932, uses the classical Roman V in place of the U.
Rome in the 1970s
The Bulgari Roma appeared in the year the Vietnam War ended with the fall of Saigon and Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft. By 1977, when the Bvlgari Bvlgari followed, Star Wars was in American theaters and the two Voyager probes had just been launched.
For Bulgari, it was a decade of expansion beyond Rome. The house opened in New York and other fashion capitals, and its Tubogas snake watches starred in its advertising. The Bvlgari Bvlgari gave it something no other jeweler had in the same form: its own name, spelled the Roman way, as the ornament.
How to recognize it
Look for a round gold pendant set with black onyx and carrying the BVLGARI BVLGARI double logo, hung on a yellow gold chain 16 to 17 inches long. Both chain and pendant are 18-karat gold.
Bulgari notes that dimensions and weights of its jewelry are approximate, given their artisanal production. Bulgari's archive also shows gold and diamond and mother-of-pearl versions of Bvlgari Bvlgari pendants.
Fifty years of the double logo
In 2025 Bulgari marked 50 years since the Bulgari Roma with new watches, including a yellow gold 38 mm model whose bezel revives the original 'BVLGARI ROMA' engraving, limited to 150 pieces, and a rose gold version with the familiar double-logo bezel. Both were priced at 18,000 euros.
The onyx pendant sits at the other end of the house's range, a current-production piece that puts the same idea, a Roman coin's inscription turned into a brand signature, within reach of a first-time Bulgari buyer.
The numbers
- Reference
- 350554
- Metal
- 18-karat yellow gold chain and pendant
- Stone
- Black onyx
- Length
- 16-17 in (41-43 cm)
- Production
- Current serial production
Timeline
Sotirios Voulgaris opens his own shop in Rome under the name Bulgari.
Constantino and Giorgio Bulgari take over; the logo adopts the Roman V.
Bulgari sends its top 100 clients a limited-edition digital watch engraved 'BULGARI ROMA' at Christmas.
Gérald Genta reworks the design into the first commercial Bvlgari Bvlgari watch with the double-logo bezel.
A yellow and white gold Bvlgari Bvlgari Tubogas snake watch-bracelet is made (circa 1980).
Bvlgari Bvlgari gold and mother-of-pearl necklaces appear.
Gold and diamond Bvlgari Bvlgari pendants on gold chains appear.
A Bvlgari Bvlgari hobo bag carries the motif into leather goods.
Bulgari releases 50th-anniversary watches reviving the 'BVLGARI ROMA' bezel.
The onyx necklace, reference 350554, lists at $2,280 on Bulgari's U.S. site.
The world in 1975
Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Saigon falls and the Vietnam War ends.
The Helsinki Accords are signed in Finland.
Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th U.S. president.
Star Wars is released in the United States.
Voyager 1 is launched.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2026 | $2,280 | Asking price, not a saleBulgari U.S. retail price for the 18-karat yellow gold and onyx Bvlgari Bvlgari necklace, reference 350554, excluding taxes. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Bvlgari Bvlgari (BB) Onyx Necklace (18k gold) is number 96 of 100 in the jewelry entries of the FLOAT 100. 44 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (70 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The double logo began on a watch given to just 100 clients.
- That first 1975 watch was digital and came on a macramé strap.
- The engraving copies the way Roman coins circled an emperor's portrait with inscriptions.
- The Bvlgari Bvlgari watch case was modeled on Roman temple columns.
- The same designer behind the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak shaped the Bvlgari Bvlgari watch.
- Bulgari writes its name with a V because classical Roman inscriptions did.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026