Stars Dazzle in Cartier and Bulgari Diamonds at 98th Oscars

Cartier and Bulgari set the jewellery tone on the Dolby Theatre red carpet Sunday night, as the 98th Academy Awards drew a constellation of stars whose choice of diamonds said as much as their gowns.

Zoe Saldaña arrived in Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, her look completed with Cartier jewels, a pairing that placed her squarely in the house's tradition of dressing Hollywood's most architectural moments. Elle Fanning, in Givenchy by Sarah Burton, also turned to Cartier, making the maison the evening's most visible jewellery presence across two of the carpet's most closely watched arrivals.

Hudson Williams brought Bulgari into the conversation in a particularly considered way, pairing custom Balenciaga with both Bulgari jewels and a Bulgari timepiece. The decision to coordinate watch and jewellery from a single house reflects a growing red carpet sensibility: jewellery as a total proposition rather than a collection of individual pieces.

Rose Byrne's choice offered the evening's most unexpected credit. Her Dior Haute Couture was accompanied not by one of the major houses but by desert diamonds from Taffin, the New York-based atelier known for its unconventional stone cutting and its designer James de Givenchy's resistance to conventional luxury tropes. Paired with Gianvito Rossi shoes, it was a look assembled with a collector's instinct rather than a stylist's default.

Kristen Wiig wore Elie Saab alongside Boucheron jewels, connecting the French couturier's elaborate construction with the Place Vendôme house's equally exacting approach to goldsmithing. Chase Infiniti, in custom Louis Vuitton, chose De Beers London for jewellery, while Lola Kirke, wearing Simone Rocha, selected pieces from Briony Raymond, the New York jeweller whose work often favours antique and old-cut diamonds over contemporary commercial stones.

Taken together, the carpet's jewellery credits reflected a broadening of the prestige conversation beyond the traditional red carpet powerhouses. Taffin and Briony Raymond share the billing with Cartier and Bulgari, which suggests that the women wearing these looks, or their stylists, are making distinctions that reward a more attentive kind of looking.