Christie's to auction Claudia Cardinale's gold jewels in Paris sale
Christie's will sell about 20 Claudia Cardinale jewels in Paris, led by a 1966 Bulgari fox brooch and a Serpenti watch estimated up to €250,000.
Claudia Cardinale’s name gives this Paris sale something rarer than a strong signature jewel: a direct line from mid-century screen glamour to the market’s current appetite for signed gold. Christie’s will offer about 20 pieces from her personal collection in an online Joaillerie Paris sale from June 19 to 26, under the title Claudia Cardinale: Jewels of a Cinematic Icon, with exhibition viewings in Geneva from May 7 to 13 and in Paris from June 16 to 26.
The strongest draw is not just the brands, though Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Buccellati all appear. It is the way Cardinale wore them. Christie’s said the jewels were selected, cherished and worn by the actress, and that detail matters in a market that prizes provenance as much as gold weight. Cardinale died in September 2025 at 87, and this sale reads as both tribute and test case: how far celebrity ownership can push demand for a signed vintage jewel whose value already rests on design, rarity and condition.
The key piece for collectors is the 1966 Bulgari gold fox brooch, estimated at about €7,000 to €10,000. Its appeal lies in the exact things serious buyers study: the animal form, the year, the maker, and the fact that it is a gold jewel with a clear sculptural identity rather than a generic accessory. At the top end is a Bulgari Serpenti bracelet watch, estimated at about €150,000 to €250,000, a reminder that when gold becomes both jewel and mechanism, the price can rise sharply. Also in the sale are several Bulgari rings, a Van Cleef & Arpels gold powder compact and a Cartier gold Tank watch, pieces that broaden the narrative from ornament to object, from adornment to lived-in luxury.
Christie’s said the sale comes a few weeks after the tribute to Cardinale at the Cannes Film Festival and 65 years after her first ascent of the red carpet in 1961. That timing gives the auction an unusually clear cultural frame, especially as part of the house’s broader Joaillerie Paris offering. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Fondazione Claudia Cardinale, founded in 2023 by Cardinale and her daughter Claudia Squitieri to support contemporary audiovisual creation and empower women artists. Christie’s also highlighted Cardinale’s admiration for Buccellati, including an antique jewel with a butterfly motif, underscoring the sale’s real appeal: not just famous ownership, but a coherent gold wardrobe shaped by Italian design at its most elegant and precise.
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