Bulgari Enamel, Ruby, and Diamond Dragon Bracelet

Created of rubies, diamonds, enamel and 18K gold, this Bulgari dragon bracelet of serpent form dates from the 1970s. It is designed as a coiling dragon with marquise-cut diamond crest, and oval and cabochon-cut ruby eyes and nose, completed by a highly flexible, coiling serpent-form body of triangular yellow and green basse taille enamel scales. A member of the firm's classic Serpenti family of jewels, this vibrantly colored, graphic bracelet is an intriguing variant on one of Bulgari's most iconic designs.

Size: Bracelet is flexible and fits a small-medium wrist.
Materials: 2 oval-cut rubies (approximate total weight 0.50 carat); 5 marquise-cut diamonds (approximate total weight 0.60 carat); 2 cabochon rubies (approximate total weight 0.70 carat); Basse Taille Enamel; 18K gold
Signed: BVLGARI 750

Bulgari's creative experimentation with the Serpenti form began in the 1940s, and the immediate success of these jewels helped consolidate the firms' international renown. From the sinuous, abstract forms of the 1940s, made with streamlined tubogas links, designers moved to the realistic snake jewels of the 1950s, composed first of gold beads affixed to flexible mesh, then to the classic, opulent serpents with pentagon-shape enamel scales, individually enameled, meticulously connected by tiny screws, and set with diamonds and colored stones. Taste makers such as Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Vreeland selected these unique serpents at Bulgari, and they are among the most "screen shown" of all modern jewels. This bracelet was crafted by the Illario family, who created Serpenti jewels for Bulgari from the 1950s to the early 1970s. In close collaboration with Bulgari designers, the Illario workshop, located in the historic jewelers' district of the city of Valenza, crafted the distinctive serpents entirely in-house, with lapidaries, enamelists and goldsmiths all working under one roof.