Bulgari Previews Eclettica High Jewelry Collection on the Oscars Red Carpet

Eight days before Bulgari's official presentation in Milan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas walked the 98th Academy Awards red carpet at the Dolby Theatre on March 15 wearing a serpent around her neck — though most of the room probably didn't know it yet.

The Roman house dressed both Chopra Jonas and fellow brand ambassador Anne Hathaway in pieces from its forthcoming Eclettica high jewellery collection, using the Oscars as a very deliberate, very public tease. The full collection is set to be unveiled in Milan on March 23, 2026. "It's such an important occasion only a few days ahead of our presentation," Bulgari jewelry creative director Lucia Silvestri told WWD. "Depending on the date of the official unveiling, we like to tease it this way on special occasions with our ambassadors; it makes for a nice moment."

Chopra Jonas wore the Serpenti Illusio High Jewellery necklace, which is built around a 14.01-carat antique cushion-cut sapphire from Madagascar. That deep, saturated blue stone anchors a composition of pavé diamonds, buff-top emeralds and onyx — though the design's real trick is in what you don't immediately see. At first glance, the piece reads as a hypnotic geometry of diamonds, a dazzling collar. Only on closer inspection does the form of a serpent emerge, Bulgari's most iconic symbol rendered as a contemporary bas-relief. The necklace is composed of 235 individual elements and required more than 1,300 hours of work; it is also engineered to move gracefully with the body. Chopra Jonas completed the look with a high jewellery diamond ring and earrings, and, like Hathaway, chose a strapless gown to maximize the necklace's impact.

Hathaway wore the Neoclassical Starlight High Jewellery necklace, paired with a floral Valentino gown. Technical specifications for the Neoclassical Starlight were not released ahead of the Milan presentation, but its visual effect against Hathaway's strapless neckline was widely noted.

This marks the second consecutive year Bulgari has used a major red carpet to preview a high jewellery collection days before its official unveiling. Last year, Chopra Jonas and Hathaway attended the Met Gala wearing pieces from the Polychroma collection, which was subsequently presented in Taormina, Sicily. Met Gala co-chair A$AP Rocky also wore a ring, earrings and a necklace from Polychroma that night. The pattern is intentional: Silvestri noted that Bulgari's clients appreciate seeing the jewels worn at international events by brand ambassadors before the formal reveal.

The house's relationship with Hollywood runs considerably deeper than a marketing strategy. The Jewellery Editor traces Bulgari's red carpet lineage from Elizabeth Taylor and Ingrid Bergman to Zendaya, who wore a 31-carat Paraíba tourmaline necklace with diamonds to the Oscars in 2022 and high jewellery earrings set with morganites and turquoise in 2024. The Serpenti design family alone has appeared on the red carpet on Florence Pugh, Angela Bassett, Cara Delevingne, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Charlize Theron.

Eclettica, the collection from which both Oscars pieces were drawn, is described by Bulgari as a dialogue between jewellery and art, with designs inspired by sculpture, painting and architecture. The full presentation to media and clients takes place in Italy on March 23 — and if the Serpenti Illusio is any measure of the range, the conversation in Milan should be worth the wait.