Arabian ladies looking to make a statement with their bags this spring might well fancy a limited edition “bejeweled” Bulgari’s Serpenti Forever bag.

Limited to just 68 pieces and available at select Bulgari stores worldwide, the python skin bag has been billed as the “crown jewel” of Bulgari’s Spring Summer 2016 accessories collection. 

It features an intricate and intriguing mix of time, tradition and textures interpreted to rippling and innovative effect.

Like a detailed and awe-inspiring painting, the bag is covered by a rich and lavish floral design, a cascade of intensely-coloured flowers inspired by a 1968 necklace made by Bulgari. 

Featuring a profusion of cabochon-cut emeralds, rubies and sapphires, and peppered by brilliant-cut diamonds, the necklace was worn by Keira Knightly to the Oscars in 2006 when she was nominated for the best actress in Pride and Prejudice.

Just like the bag, the necklace underscores Bulgari’s penchant to explore new grounds while staying true to its centuries old savoire-faire and roots.

With its explosive chromatic combinations and cabochon cuts applied to precious stones, the necklace’s floral pattern swirls liberally and gracefully, further revealing Bulgari’s desire to break away from the asymmetrical and graphic floral designs favoured by its French counterparts at the time. 

It marks Bulgari’s desire to innovate by focusing on more structured, compact and symmetric designs characterized by softer-edged frames.

The latter-day reinterpretations of this rich composition is screen-printed onto the bag in a precious python skin. 

The patterned panel is cut to fit the shape of the bag like a glove and later hand-polished to preserve the natural hand of the skin. The result is a strong contrast between the scales’ rough texture and the flourishing bejeweled pattern. 

Adding a signature touch is the enamel snake-head clasp in black and white whose eyes twinkle with lapislazuli. 

The new “bejeweled” Serpenti Forever bag is the fruit of a labor-intensive process for which each of the 68 bags required three months to craft.