Elle Fanning Wears Archival Cartier Jewels to the 2026 Academy Awards

Elle Fanning arrived at the Dolby Theatre for the 98th Academy Awards as her first Oscar nomination's most eloquent argument: a strapless white Givenchy by Sarah Burton gown whose silver wisteria embroidery climbed the fitted bodice and reappeared at the hemline of a full tulle skirt that swept the red carpet behind her.

The gown was only half the story. Multiple outlets reported that Fanning, a Cartier ambassador, chose an archival necklace from the maison's archives dated to 1903, its leaf motif crafted to resemble wisteria leaves in old round-cut diamonds set in platinum. The Hollywood Reporter noted the piece is a transformable design, a construction choice that makes its century-plus age feel quietly radical. The wisteria connection was not coincidental: the Hollywood Reporter also noted that the climbing flower holds personal significance for Fanning, who grew up surrounded by wisteria at her childhood home in Conyers, Georgia. The Givenchy embroidery and the Cartier archive had found each other across 123 years.

Some discrepancy exists across coverage regarding which specific archival Cartier pieces Fanning wore that evening. WWD, Yahoo, and the Hollywood Reporter consistently identified the 1903 leaf-motif diamond necklace as the centerpiece. Galerie dated the old-cut diamond necklace to 1904 and reported that Fanning also wore a Cartier Diamond Collection bracelet and ring. Marie Claire described a different configuration entirely: a draped choker necklace from 1958, a vintage pavé watch, and a ring from the archives. The plurality of detail on the necklace's construction, the old round-cut diamonds set in platinum, comes from the Hollywood Reporter and aligns with the wisteria-motif narrative confirmed across multiple outlets.

The evening marked a significant personal milestone. Fanning received her first Academy Award nomination for her supporting performance in Joachim Trier's Norwegian film "Sentimental Value," which earned nine nominations total at the 2026 ceremony, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Renate Reinsve. Fanning completed her look with her blond hair pulled back in a low bun, a hairstyle that kept the necklace's presence unobstructed.

Her awards-season jewelry choices have consistently favored Cartier's most significant archive holdings. At the Golden Globe Awards in January, Fanning wore a one-of-a-kind Cartier High Jewelry necklace called the Pavocelle, a piece that typically centers an oval 58.08-carat sapphire from Sri Lanka. For that evening, she elected to remove the center stone, according to Marie Claire, choosing to lead with the surrounding diamonds alone. The decision to strip back a necklace of that caliber is its own kind of connoisseurship.

At the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, the dominant jewelry narrative leaned toward spectacle. The Hollywood Reporter noted a broad emphasis on sparkle across the evening, with a counter-thread of austere restraint visible in Renate Reinsve's sleek, unadorned red Louis Vuitton gown and Emma Stone's empire-cut white beaded look accessorized only with delicate Repossi diamond earrings. Fanning's choice fell somewhere more precise than either camp: not minimalism, not maximalism, but a studied coherence between a living designer's hand-embroidered wisteria and a platinum necklace that predates the Dolby Theatre by more than a century.