Jewels owned and worn by Claudia Cardinale, including remarkable creations by Cartier, Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels

‘Acting was my mother’s passport to the world,’ says Claudia Squitieri, daughter of Claudia Cardinale, the movie star who rose to fame in the 1960s with roles in 8½ (1963), The Leopard (1963), The Pink Panther (1963) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). ‘She travelled everywhere promoting her movies, from New York to Tokyo, and would often take her favourite jewels with her.’

There are, for instance, photographs of Cardinale wearing an emerald and diamond necklace in Rome in 1970, in Los Angeles in 1976, and in Cannes in 1987. She also wore it to grand occasions throughout the 1990s. ‘She did not subscribe to the “I wore it once, I’m not going to wear it twice” approach,’ Squitieri says, with a smile. ‘I love that she wore the same pieces throughout her life; it shows that they meant something to her.’

Offered in Joaillerie Paris, an online sale open for bidding until 26 June 2026 (and on view at Christie’s in Paris), is a collection of 24 jewels from Cardinale’s personal collection. It includes remarkable creations by Bulgari, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels that reflect the elegance, spirit and glamour of one of cinema’s most celebrated stars.

‘These pieces represent the crowning of my mother’s career,’ says Squitieri, who explains that the majority were gifted to Cardinale in the 1960s, at the height of her fame, by her then husband, the film producer Franco Cristaldi. ‘In later life, they served as visual mementos of her success. Some reminded her of places, others of the roles she played and the women she represented.’

As well as being a celebrated actress, Cardinale was a devoted humanitarian, globally recognised for her work as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the advocacy of women’s rights. In 2023, she co-founded, together with her daughter, the Fondazione Claudia Cardinale, with the aim of building a bridge between their respective worlds — cinema and the visual arts.

‘We wanted to support artists whose work sits at the intersection of these two disciplines,’ says Squitieri, adding that the foundation operates from Picardeau House, Cardinale’s last home in Nemours, about an hour’s drive south of Paris. ‘Establishing the foundation was a way to honour what my mother taught me, while also perpetuating her memory and influence as a woman and an artist.’ A portion of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to a programme at the Fondazione Claudia Cardinale dedicated to supporting young women artists.

Born in Tunisia to Sicilian parents in 1938, Cardinale would go on to become one of the most important Italian actresses of her generation. Her film career began as a teenager, somewhat by chance, when she won a beauty contest in Tunisia, organised by the Italian film industry, that she hadn’t even entered. She was picked from the crowd, thrust on stage and voted ‘the most beautiful Italian girl in Tunisia’. The prize was a free trip to the Venice Film Festival in 1957, where she caught the eye of Italian photographers, directors and film producers.

In 1958, Franco Cristaldi cast her in her first major film, I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street), which was a great success. Her big break, however, came in 1963, when she landed starring roles in Federico Fellini’s 8½ and Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard. With a distinctly Mediterranean sensuality, Cardinale soon came to embody post-war European glamour and a femininity that broke with that of previous decades. She became Visconti’s favourite actress, Fellini’s muse and a global ambassador for the greatest names in Italian fashion, notably Bulgari, whose distinctly Italian style celebrating yellow gold, cabochon cuts and eye-catching colour combinations was beginning to attract an international following. ‘Bulgari was one of my mother’s favourite brands,’ says Squitieri. ‘In the 1960s, the house was synonymous with the hedonism and glamour of the Roman dolce vita.’

Over the course of her six-decade career, Cardinale starred in more than 175 films, primarily in Italy and France, as well as several international TV series and theatre productions. In 1993, the Venice Film Festival awarded her a Career Golden Lion, and she received a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2002. ‘I’ve lived more than 150 lives — prostitute, saint, romantic, every kind of woman — and that is marvellous to have this opportunity to change yourself,’ she said.

While Cardinale may have portrayed all types of women on screen and stage, at home she was ‘very discreet, very humble, not flashy at all’, as Squitieri puts it. ‘My mother loved wearing jewellery, but she only wore it for special occasions or for big public events. You’d never catch her doing the washing up in Bulgari.’

She seems to have had an appreciation for fine jewellery from the outset. ‘She came from a very humble background and had very little, not even real silver jewellery, when she first arrived in Italy,’ says Squitieri. ‘So she really understood how precious it all was. She treasured each and every piece and took great care of her collection, which, like her career, was very diverse.’

Leading the collection coming to Christie’s is a blue and white enamel and sapphire Bulgari ‘Serpenti’ bracelet watch from around 1965, with a manual movement and a dial signed Vacheron Constantin Genève. The first models produced in the 1960s were nearly all made in yellow gold with diamond-set heads and tails. The later colourful enamel examples, such as this one, feature scales handmade from sheets of gold and dials concealed in the serpent’s head. ‘My mother was a free-spirited, fiercely independent woman who saw the serpent motif as a symbol of strength, wisdom and vitality,’ says Squitieri. ‘I think she found it very empowering to wear this watch coiled around her arm.’ A similar model to the present example is illustrated in the publication Entre histoire et éternité, released in 2009 for the 125th anniversary of Bulgari, an occasion that was also marked by a major exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Other notable Bulgari lots include three cabochon rings. One is set with a 26‑carat ruby; a second ‘Trombino’ ring features a Colombian emerald; and a third is set with a star sapphire. From the 1950s onwards, the cabochon, symbolic of the domes that define the Roman skyline, became Bulgari’s signature cut. It allowed Bulgari to highlight the natural volume and colour of gems and to create jewels that were smooth and silky to the touch.

‘These rings exemplify Bulgari’s distinctive aesthetic in the 1960s,’ says Squitieri. ‘My mother was often photographed wearing them.’ There is also a cabochon moonstone ring and a geometric gold and diamond ring (unsigned), offered with a Van Cleef & Arpels sapphire and diamond ring. ‘My father [the Italian film director Pasquale Squitieri] gave the diamond ring to my mother when she was about 55,’ she says. ‘It was specially designed for her, so she was particularly fond of it.’

Of the antique pieces coming to auction, Squitieri highlights a late-19th-century enamel, ruby, sapphire and diamond butterfly brooch. ‘She sometimes wore it as a necklace [illustrated above] and sometimes as a brooch,’ she says. ‘I find it interesting that she liked to transform pieces in her collection in the same way that she was constantly transforming herself.’

Does she remember how Cardinale typically approached dressing for public events? ‘Absolutely,’ says Squitieri. ‘She took a very ceremonial, almost ritualistic approach to getting ready for special occasions.’ Cardinale had a large dressing room in her Roman villa that was filled to the brim with shoes, wigs and clothes. It was here that she kept her jewellery.

‘As a child, I remember this room as a place where you could transform yourself into a princess, from head to toe,’ says Squitieri. ‘My mother would always have a wonderful time choosing what she was going to wear and the piece of jewellery that would best complement it. For her, it was about equilibrium: if the dress was simple, the jewellery would be extravagant, and vice versa.’

Other notable sale highlights include a late-19th-century diamond necklace, with old and rose-cut diamonds; a gold cigarette case signed by Van Cleef & Arpels and watches by Cartier. Cardinale was also a great admirer of Buccellati’s floral designs, often developed around central gemstones. The sale includes a rose brooch made from gold and coral and another composed of three flowers set with diamonds and pearls. A Buccellati set comprising a necklace and a pair of earrings is also being offered.

How does Squitieri think her mother would feel about the sale? ‘I think she would be very happy and proud that we are offering these pieces to sustain artistic creation and exchange between artists,’ she says. ‘I find it quite beautiful that the sale of these jewels will help make someone else shine.’

Joaillerie Paris is live for bidding until 26 June 2026 and on view at Christie’s in Paris