The venerable Italian fine jewelry house Bulgari is commemorating its 125th anniversary with a huge exhibit at the Grand Palais in Paris.

The exhibition will retrace the main chapters in Bulgari’s history and the evolution of the esthetic that made the brand a driving force of the “Italian school,” from the opening of the first shop on Via Sistina in 1884 through the modern day.

This fascinating saga is illustrated by more than 600 masterpieces of jewelry, watch- and clockmaking, and the decorative arts, including some one hundred exclusive pieces that will be on public display for the first time.

A monumental lion, teeth bared and one front paw resting proprietorially on a giant pearl, held centre stage, its golden coat caught in the setting sun under the glass dome of the Grand Palais.

Karl Lagerfeld is a past master at dreaming up attention-grabbing scenarios for his Chanel shows, and Tuesday night’s was no exception.

It looked like an allusion to Jean Cocteau’s Surreal masterpiece “Beauty and the Beast” when the traditional bride at the end was accompanied by a groom wearing a lion’s head over his wedding suit.

However Lagerfeld told AFP it had been inspired by a small bronze lion found in Coco Chanel’s apartment.

The newly remodeled Grand Palais hosts “Le Grand Monde d’Andy Warhol”.

The exhibition consists of almost 150 works, some of them coming out of private collections for the first time, by pop art legend Andy Warhol.

“Warhol wanted to produce portraits that showed not just people, but a society, a whole wide world,” said Alain Cueff, curator of the show.

The private collection amassed by the fashion designer and his partner Pierre Berge is considered one of the finest in the world.

Labeled the “sale of the century” by Christie’s, it will include over 700 lots with an estimated total value of €200 million to €300 million ($255 million to $380 million).

Berges and Saint Laurent met in 1958 and set themselves the goal of buying the best paintings and sculptures they could lay their hands on.