Bulgari Diamond 18 Karat Rose Gold 7-Coil Serpenti Watch

The Serpenti is a significant part of the Bulgari jewelry history. The original prototype was created in the 1940s by Sotirio Georgis Bulgari (originally Sotirios Voulgaris from Greece), who founded the house in Rome in 1884. The Serpenti was portrayed as the seductive serpent from Greek mythology and made in the Tubogas style, or flexible tubular chain, which climbed the wrist like a sinewy snake much like this contemporary example. In 1962 on the set of Cleopatra (1963) which was filming in Rome, Elizabeth Taylor flaunted a diamond-encrusted version with the Serpenti watch hidden in the snake head. When the publicity photo became part of the barrage of press surrounding Taylor’s romance with her leading man, Richard Burton, the design exploded with popularity.

The Tubogas which is the bracelet for this watch, was a corrugated tube made of articulated bands used to transport pressurized gas patented in 1881, but in the 1940s, it was discovered by jewelers who gave it a glittering future. According to La Gazette Drouot, “in the hands of watchmakers and jewelers, the Tubogas was sensational. Its flexibility was crazy, a series of gold-threaded grooves entirely articulated by hinges concealing micro-springs. Today, the Tubogas watch is creating a buzz in auction rooms, powered by the aura of Roman jeweler Bulgari and the spotlight on its iconic Serpenti watch, a Tubogas/snake hybrid.” Indeed, the present-day Serpenti timepieces remain relevant and exciting thanks to a rich history of creative innovation that drives it ever forward.