The BAFTA 2024 ceremony takes place in London this Sunday 18 February. To celebrate, Bulgari, the event’s official watch and jewellery partner, is displaying a cache of its heritage pieces, some of the most legendary jewels in film history, at its Bond Street boutique. Gislain Aucremanne, heritage curator at the jewellery house, tells us of the stories and screen stars behind these dazzling designs.
Bulgari’s cinematic past on show for BAFTA 2024
The David di Donatello Award
In 1956, Bulgari was asked to design the trophy for Italy’s Academy of Italian Cinema Awards (AICA), the David di Donatello. The recipient of its first edition was Gina Lollobridiga (pictured top), who took the Best Actress gong for her performance as the peasant-girl-turned-opera-diva in Robert Z Leonard's 1955 film, Beautiful but Dangerous. 'The design is a miniaturised reproduction of Donatello's David sculpture, now preserved in Florence,' Aucremanne says. 'The original artwork was finished in gold and so is this. Bulgari mounted the figure on a block of beautiful green malachite, which suits his stance, that says: "You may be a little person but in the end you can be victorious and do great things". So there's a beautiful message there, too. I like its journey from ancient fine-art sculpture to a symbol of the art of cinema today.'
Elizabeth Taylor's ‘break-up’ jewel
‘This jewel is beautiful in daytime in natural light and amazing at night, shimmering as if with electrical light,’ says Aucremanne. ‘There are many images of Elizabeth Taylor wearing this, sometimes as a brooch on the lapel, and also worn in her hair. It was a gift from her husband at the time, Eddie Fisher, and most probably the last he gave her. It was 1962 and Taylor was filming Cleopatra in Rome. Her affair with Richard Burton just went public, and legend has it that Fisher sent Taylor the invoice for the piece. I'm not sure it's an elegant thing to send a bill, but I think he was furious at the time. Some of the bigger flowers in the spray are entremble, which means they trembled and shimmered, catching the light as she moved (they are set on little springs). It's an absolutely gorgeous piece and it particularly reflects Taylor's tastes.’
Anna Magnani necklace and bombe ring
'Of course, in Italy, and Rome in particular, Anna Magnani was a huge star, famous for playing gritty, street roles. The Italian public loved her for that. People felt very close to her and would call out nicknames to her in the streets, as if she was the character they knew. She was a nice person, a strong personality, and she loved coming to Bulgari to select her jewels,' says Aucremanne.
'Magnani's taste is very much reflected in this necklace and ring, which is very bombe, voluminous and curvy, and she loved to wear it on her pinky. She had a very strong attitude to the way she wore her jewels. Here, you have a beautiful circle of diamonds, with the baguettes giving a sense of geometry, an almost industrial touch.'
Elizabeth Taylor's ‘Boom’ Bracelet-Necklace
'This necklace was selected by Elizabeth Taylor for her role in Joseph Losey's 1968 film Boom,’ says Aucremanne. It’s detachable, so can be worn as two bracelets. And that’s how she wore it in the movie. Here, you really have a sense of volume, which is very true to the Bulgari style. There’s also a strong rhythm between the randomness of the motifs, the proportions, the symmetry, geometry, all of which are synonymous with the house.'
Anna Magnani's mismatched pearls
'There's a picture of Anna Magnani at a party with Bette Davis, where she is wearing these earrings. They are natural pearls, one is white and the other is a grey-black pearl. You can see, at first glance that they are not quite the same colour, but if you look closer, you realise there’s a gradation.'
'The matching pearl brooch has a geometric boldness and volume,' Aucremanne continues, noting the 'opposing architectural elements of the baguette-cut diamonds [and the] round-cut. That the stones are set on different levels and directions gives an almost hypnotic draw. When worn under film lights, the pieces would reflect and refract light differently.'
Gina Lollabrigida and Claudia Cardinale’s kaleidoscopic gems
'This set is from the late 1950s, and now we really see the colour, what we term the Italian School of jewellery, moving away from mainly white stones to something more Italian,’ says Aucremanne. ‘The diamonds are mixed with coloured gemstones in a design that could have looked very chaotic, yet has a strong sense of order. Everything you see on the left is mirroring what you have on the right, which sounds easy, but it's not. Look at the earrings – the blue stones on the left of one earring [and repeated on the right of the other]. I think these things make everything more Bulgari, you know, along with the raised rounded, or cabochon, stones.'
Jennifer Aniston and Mila Jovovich’s 1930s showstopper
'This is a 1930s piece. You could call it art deco, but it's Roman art deco. The dimension of the circular diamonds is very important. The way they alternate with rectangular, large baguette-cut diamonds and the gradation of the motifs from big to smaller has a rhythm all its own. [The necklace] has been worn by stars including Claudia Cardinale, Jessica Chastain, Mila Jovovich and Jennifer Aniston. Working with platinum is incredible work, and the craftsmen who can do this are what we term as mani intelligente, intelligent hands. It's a 1930s necklace yet it's been worn over so many eras, and I think that is the definition of a timeless piece.’
The jewellery will be on display at Bulgari’s Bond Street store, London, until 20 February 2024, bulgari.com
