Christie’s to auction Claudia Cardinale’s Bulgari Serpenti and jewels

Claudia Cardinale’s personal jewelry collection is headed for Christie’s, and it is the kind of sale that reminds collectors why names matter as much as stones. The online Joaillerie Paris auction will run from June 16 to June 26, 2026, with the jewels exhibited in Geneva from May 7 to 13 and in Paris from June 19 to 26. Christie’s says the selection includes about 20 pieces Cardinale chose, cherished and wore over the years, with creations by Cartier, Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Fondazione Claudia Cardinale, which she established with her daughter, Claudia Squitieri.

The headliner is a Bulgari Serpenti bracelet watch from around 1965, one of the most collectible forms in the house’s midcentury vocabulary. Made in blue and white enamel and set with pear-shaped sapphires for the snake’s eyes, it is fitted with a dial signed Vacheron Constantin, Genève, and carries a high estimate of €250,000. For birthstone collectors, the lot is a perfect case study in how sapphire, the September stone, can move beyond simple ornament into museum-grade desirability when it arrives with a famous name, a recognizable silhouette and a strong maison signature.

That same logic extends to the other colored-stone pieces in the sale: Bulgari rings centered on an oval cabochon ruby, a cabochon sapphire and an oval cabochon emerald. Ruby, sapphire and emerald are among the most sought-after birthstones precisely because they travel so easily between personal meaning and luxury grading. In a sale like this, the stones do not stand alone. Cardinale’s ownership, the cabochon cuts, and Bulgari’s midcentury Italian glamour all help explain why a comparable ring can command more at auction than a similar stone set in an anonymous mounting.

The broader context matters too. Cardinale’s use of Bulgari recalls the house’s deep ties to Italian cinema, the same constellation that helped turn Serpenti into a shorthand for movie-star allure after Elizabeth Taylor bought one while filming Cleopatra at Cinecittà in 1962. Christie’s says Cardinale was also a great admirer of Buccellati designs, and the sale includes brooches in that maker’s floral language, including a rose in gold and coral and a sunflower in gold, diamonds and sapphires. For collectors, the clearest signals are visible here: documented celebrity provenance, a named maison, original design character and strong colored stones, all of which can elevate a birthstone jewel from pretty to genuinely collectible. Christie’s sold €10.5 million in jewelry in Paris in December 2021, a benchmark that shows how powerfully those factors can still price the best pieces.