Bulgari Monete Ancient-Coin Necklace

Old money, new gold

Bulgari says it made its first coin jewels in 1966, mounting Greek and Roman coins, and that the selection later widened to coins from many periods and countries. The house credits the idea to Nicola Bulgari, an enthusiastic coin collector. It describes the work as part of a long tradition of coin jewelry that goes back to ancient Rome.

The rules came early. The mounts were designed to follow each coin's outline without harming it. The worn, matte metal of the coin was meant to stand out against polished gold. Bulgari's own product copy today says each coin in the collection is treasured 'as much as a rare and precious gem.'

The pieces are known inside the house as 'coin-gems,' according to a W magazine report. Nicola Bulgari explained the idea this way: 'We offer an ancient coin, a relic of the past, the prospect of a second life. Instead of leaving it closed in a drawer, we transform it into a living thing.'

The family on Via dei Condotti

One account of the firm's history says Bulgari was founded in 1884 by Sotirios Voulgaris, a Greek silversmith who had arrived in Italy in 1880 with little money. He took the name Bulgari from the sound of his surname and opened the shop on Via dei Condotti in Rome with his sons Constantino and Giorgio. The same account says the house made a tiara for the 1930 wedding of Prince Umberto of Italy and Princess Marie José of Belgium, and that the sons took over after their father died in 1932.

In the 1960s the third generation, Gianni, Paolo and Nicola, took charge. In the Dolce Vita years the Via dei Condotti store drew film stars, among them Sophia Loren, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor, Monica Vitti and Anita Ekberg. Bulgari says the store became a symbol of the Dolce Vita itself.

Nicola, the grandson of the founder, was the coin collector. One magazine account says he first tried coins in brooches and chokers before arriving at statement necklaces on long chains. Bulgari's specialists, the same account says, search the international coin market for pieces to set. One essay on the line adds that each coin is engraved on its mount with the ruler or place it shows and its date.

Rome in the age of Il Boom

The Monete pieces date to the years when Rome was the center of glamour in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, and the city's postwar film boom earned it the name Hollywood on the Tiber. Photographers waited outside the Bulgari shop for celebrity clients such as Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly. A Bulgari ad campaign that ran from 1965 to 1967 laid a necklace of amethysts, emeralds, turquoises and diamonds on a carpet of Roman coins.

Italy had a hard autumn in 1966, the year of the first coin jewels. On November 4 the Arno flooded Florence, killing 35 people and damaging or destroying millions of works of art and rare books. Elsewhere that year, Indira Gandhi became prime minister of India, and England beat West Germany to win the World Cup.

This necklace and its market

The FLOAT 100 entry is a modest, wearable Monete: one ancient coin framed in gold as a pendant, about an inch across, hung from a cord about 26 inches long with three gold rondelles. The reverse of the mount is inscribed 'Londinium-Constantinus Aug. A.D. 307-337.' It is signed Bulgari and numbered, with a gross weight of 15.3 pennyweight. It sold at auction on October 23, 2024, from a sale whose property was held in Lambertville, New Jersey. The estimate was $1,500 to $2,500, and it brought $4,032.

The same sale shows how buyers value these pieces. A matching set of a Monete necklace and bracelet, the necklace pendant inscribed 'Nicomedia-Licinius I Aug. A.D. 308-324,' sold for $10,080 against a $2,000 to $3,000 estimate. Because that was two pieces sold together, it is not counted as a single-necklace price here.

At the other end of the range are long chains with many coins. In 2026 a vintage Monete necklace of eight Roman silver denarii, from Domitian to Maximinus Thrax, in 18k yellow gold, 38 1/4 inches long and weighing 259.80 grams, was offered at $150,000. A New York gallery also offers a sautoir of about 1980 with nine Roman republican and imperial denarii, at a price given only on request.

How to read one

Turn it over first. A Monete mount is engraved on the back, in Roman capitals, with what the coin is: the ruler or place and the date. This necklace reads 'Londinium-Constantinus Aug. A.D. 307-337.' The piece should also carry the Bulgari signature, usually with a number, and gold marks. The gallery sautoir is stamped 'BVLGARI' with '750' and an Italian importation mark; the eight-coin necklace offered in 2026 carries Italian registry marks.

One essay on the line says Bulgari uses no replicas, and that when a piece holds several coins they come from the same era and civilization. Finished pieces that fail inspection are taken apart and the materials recycled. A gallery adds that Monete pieces usually come with a Bulgari certificate listing the coins used.

The coins themselves keep their wear. W magazine reports that the house leaves irregularities and signs of age alone, and the mounts are shaped to the coin rather than the coin trimmed to the mount.

From Grace Kelly to the present

Grace Kelly was photographed wearing a Bulgari Monete necklace in Monte Carlo around 1972. The line grew into rings, earrings, bracelets and decorative objects such as boxes and bowls, and collectors also look for less common pieces like money clips and cufflinks.

LVMH acquired Bulgari in 2011 for about $6 billion. Monete remains in the current catalog, with pendant necklaces in 18k rose gold set with an antique coin. Bulgari's product copy calls the line a way of 'showing women just how alluring a 2.000-year-old coin can look' in a modern setting.

The numbers

Carat weight

Not applicable: set with an ancient coin, no gemstones

Color and clarity

Not applicable

Coin

Ancient coin; the mount is inscribed 'Londinium-Constantinus Aug. A.D. 307-337'

Origin mine

Not applicable

Cutter

Not applicable; mounted by Bulgari, signed and numbered

Metal and weight

Gold (karat not stated in the catalog); gross weight 15.3 pennyweight

Timeline

1. 1880

   Sotirios Voulgaris, a Greek silversmith, arrives in Italy, according to one history of the firm.

2. 1884

   Bulgari is founded in Rome.

3. 1904

   The Via dei Condotti flagship opens in Rome, with the founder's sons, according to one history of the firm.

4. 1930

   Bulgari makes a tiara for the wedding of Prince Umberto of Italy and Princess Marie José of Belgium.

5. 1932

   The founder dies, and his sons Constantino and Giorgio take over.

6. 1965

   A Bulgari ad campaign, running until 1967, shows a necklace on a carpet of Roman coins.

7. 1966

   Bulgari makes its first coin jewels, mounting Greek and Roman coins, under Nicola Bulgari.

8. 1972

   Grace Kelly is photographed in Monte Carlo wearing a Monete necklace (dated circa 1972).

9. 1980

   A long Monete sautoir of nine Roman denarii is made (dated circa 1980 by the gallery offering it).

10. 2011

    LVMH acquires Bulgari for about $6 billion.

11. Oct 23, 2024

    This Constantine coin pendant necklace sells at auction for $4,032; a necklace-and-bracelet set in the same sale brings $10,080.

12. 2026

    An eight-denarius vintage Monete necklace is offered at $150,000.

The world in 1966

• Jan 19, 1966

  Indira Gandhi is elected prime minister of India.

• Feb 3, 1966

  The Soviet probe Luna 9 makes the first controlled landing on the Moon.

• Mar 20, 1966

  The World Cup trophy is stolen in London; a dog named Pickles finds it a week later.

• Mar 24, 1966

  Pope Paul VI meets the Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, in Rome.

• Jul 30, 1966

  England beats West Germany 4-2 at Wembley to win the World Cup.

• Nov 4, 1966

  The Arno floods Florence, killing 35 people and damaging millions of artworks and rare books.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Bulgari Monete Ancient-Coin Necklace is number 88 of 100 in the jewelry entries of the FLOAT 100. 44 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (40 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Bulgari's in-house name for these pieces is 'coin-gems.'
• Every Monete mount is engraved with what its coin is: the ruler or place and the date.
• When a Monete piece holds several coins, they are chosen from the same era and civilization.
• In ancient times, coins worn against the body were thought to protect the wearer from disease, misfortune and evil spirits, one gallery essay notes.
• Renaissance painters, Botticelli among them, painted sitters wearing jewelry set with ancient coins.
• The coins on Bulgari's pieces range from the fifth century B.C. to American coins of the 20th century.