A LADY'S GOLD AND DIAMOND 'TUBOGAS' BRACELET WATCH,...

A LADY'S GOLD AND DIAMOND 'TUBOGAS' BRACELET WATCH, BY BULGARI & MOVADO, CIRCA 1965

The 17-jewel manual wind movement, the silvered blue dial with baton indexes for numerals, circular case with brilliant-cut diamond bezel, snap back, completed by an 18K gold flexible coiled Tubogas bracelet, bracelet signed Bvlgari, dial signed Bulgari & Movado, movement signed Movado.

By the 1960s, the Tubogas watch-bracelets which Bulgari had produced in individualised designs since the 1940s had become a staple of the brand. Initially, brothers Constantino and Giorgio were not alone in experimenting with the ‘tubogas’ style when the technique first emerged in Italy, but no other jewellers captured the essence of the snake-like style quite so well as Bulgari. While other jewellers had abandoned the gas pipe inspired-look by the 1950s, Bulgari soon monopolised the creation of all Tubgogas designs, grounded in the jeweller’s master craftsmen who excelled at the dexterous, coiled and contoured technique. Thus, the Bulgari watch paired with a coiled gold Tubogas bracelet became immensely popular and has since become an instantly recognisable Bulgari look.

Since the 1960s, renditions of the Tubogas watch have starred on covers and in features in magazines all over the world. Sophia Loren sported the watch on the red carpet, and celebrities followed suit over the next few decades; singer Grace Jones was snapped wearing the watch at parties during the early 80s. And in the 2006 hit, Meryl Streep acted as editor in chief of a fashion magazine, wearing none other than the Bulgari Tubogas.