In Wonder Woman 1984, Gadot’s character is seen wearing Tiffany & Co.’s Elsa Peretti Bone cuff bracelet, a contemporary nod to the silver cuffs on Wonder Woman’s wrists. In films such as The Great Gatsby (2013) and Rocketman (2019), precious gems set the tone and recreate the feel of a certain era, lending authenticity to the scenes and characters, while in dramas like 2018’s Ocean’s 8 and the upcoming Death on the Nile – each with a dazzling ensemble cast – it is the jewellery that grabs the spotlight.

This synergy between star power and marketing has led to numerous famous partnerships between filmmakers and jewellers in the quest to create believable worlds on the silver screen. Take the 1962 classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s: it catapulted luxury jewellery brand Tiffany & Co. to overnight popularity (and made Audrey Hepburn’s character, Holly Golightly, an icon for the ages). 

Costume and set designers are the key players when it comes to authentically depicting personalities in biopics. In Rocketman, actor Taron Egerton’s portrayal of Elton John – feather boa and all – came to life thanks to the collaboration between costume designer Julia Day and Chopard’s co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele. 

Day wanted jewellery that not only spoke to the singer’s eccentricity, but also reflected the vibrancy and chaotic glamour of John’s life in the 70s. “I wanted to recreate the flamboyant persona of Elton John through the costume designs. I was so pleased to have been able to have access to authentic pieces of jewellery to emphasise the outfits,” she says.

Day was able to tap into the archives of Chopard and the creative vision of Scheufele, who brought to the film a touch of realism no other jeweller could have: John and Scheufele are long-time friends, and the singer has worn Chopard for years. She knew the kind of sparkle and shine that was required to bring John’s character to life.

“I was delighted to participate in this movie,” says Scheufele. “I wanted to ensure that Chopard jewellery and watches creations would help transform actor Taron Egerton into Sir Elton John.”

While directors and costume designers like to take liberty with fictional characters, sometimes real life is crazier and stranger than fiction – so much so that real life extravagance once enjoyed by kings and maharajas become plot devices for films. 

The 2018 heist drama Ocean’s 8 took inspiration from a legendary piece of jewellery created for a maharaja in the archives of Cartier. Anne Hathaway portrayed Daphne Kluger, a scheming actress who teams up with seven women to steal the Toussaint necklace in a daring heist at the Met Gala in New York. In the film, the necklace is transported from Cartier’s high-security vault to Kluger’s hotel suite.

While the necklace and design shown in the film is from Cartier, it is not, as the film suggests, the actual Toussaint that was made in 1931 for the Maharaja of Nawanagar by Jacques Cartier.

The original necklace is no longer in existence, of course – the jeweller recreated a version of the spectacular piece based on a sketch by then artistic director Jeanne Toussaint.

Toussaint described it as “the finest cascade of coloured diamonds in the world”, while Jacques Cartier called it “a superb realisation of a connoisseur’s dream”. And rightly so: the necklace featured the stunning 136-carat blue-white Queen of Holland Diamond and a 12-carat olive green diamond, with a considerable supporting cast of large pink and white diamonds.

As exclusive jewellery partner to the film, Cartier had just eight weeks to bring this gorgeous confection of jewels to life. Artisans based in the brand’s Paris workshop reduced the size of the design by 20 per cent to fit Hathaway, and used zirconium oxides instead of diamonds for sparkle. The result? To quote Hathaway’s character’s reaction on seeing the necklace for the first time: “Holy c**p!”

The elaborate heist saw the necklace stolen from right under the noses of a the substantial security detail, and it is hard to imagine that either Cartier or the Met Gala would allow such a theft to happen in real life.

Jewellers who loan their pieces to a film are usually on hand to help dress the stars, as well as provide any security arrangements necessary to safeguard their precious gems. For example, the Cartier team was on set for five days at the Metropolitan Museum to keep a watchful eye out as well as dress each star that walked down the red carpet in pieces from the heritage Cartier Collection, the High Jewellery collection, as well as bling and baubles from its watch and accessories line. 

Ocean’s 8 isn’t the only movie that turns the allure of diamonds and jewels into a plot device. In Death on the Nile, which is an adaptation of the 1937 novel by Agatha Christie, a famous Tiffany & Co. diamond dictates the plot twists.

The all-star cast, including leading actress Gal Gadot, sets sail down the Nile on board a steamer. Hercule Poirot, played by Kenneth Branagh (who also directed the film), solves a mysterious murder that involves a beautiful yellow diamond necklace worn by Gadot’s character Linnet Ridgeway Doyle. 

Gadot is seen shimmying down a staircase wearing a simple tennis bracelet and an unmissable canary yellow diamond necklace. This pièce de résistance, along with others from the Schlumberger collection, was used to set the tone of the film.

The necklace in question might look familiar to many: Lady Gaga wore the Tiffany diamond to the 2019 Academy Awards. It was one of only three occasions the gem was worn publicly, the first time by socialite Mary Whitehouse 1957, and the other by Audrey Hepburn during a photo shoot for Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Just as Cartier did for Ocean’s 8, Tiffany & Co. turned to its archives and created a replica of the 129-carat stone for the necklace in Death on the Nile. The original gem dates back to 1877, where it was first discovered as a 287-carat rough in South Africa, and subsequently acquired, cut and polished by the jeweller in 1878. 

The film’s costume designer, Paco Delgado, communicated closely with Branagh to determine the aesthetics and mood of the film. Delgado worked to ensure the fashion reflected the period without the characters looking like they’re playing dress up.

“The most important thing was to find a visual language in the film’s time period that didn’t look too far away from modern audiences,” explains Delgado. “We wanted to be able to make a world that didn’t alienate young and contemporary viewers.”

To realistically depict a heiress on her honeymoon in the 1930s required a delicate balancing act between old and new. “We mixed period and contemporary pieces all throughout the movie, but tried to keep a special eye out for pieces that, although they were period, had travelled better in time aesthetically. Then with the contemporary pieces, we wanted a modern look that would not be out of place in the 30s,” says Delgado.

How Tiffany actually became a partner for this project speaks to the power gemstones: the Tiffany Diamond, Delgado reveals, was part of the script from day one. The collaboration with Tiffany, therefore, was natural: “A piece of jewellery adds colour and light and it is in itself an art object, so it definitely brings a lot of important elements to the character.”

The Schlumberger Collection and Tiffany diamond aside, this film is one of many that sparkle with the Tiffany twinkle.

Tiffany’s art deco aesthetics have always been an important strand in its high jewellery collections, and fit perfectly into the world of Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, as depicted in The Great Gatsby. Headpieces and long strands of shimmering diamonds held their own against flapper dresses and mink shawls, setting the scene for the high life in 1920s New York.

Perhaps the greatest testament to the success of a film – and the significant role high jewellery plays – is when the stars themselves rave about it. As Elton John reveals in a video interview with Paramount Pictures Australia on Taron Egerton’s biographical portrayal of him: “When I look at him singing and when I’m looking at him acting, I’m not looking at Taron, I’m looking at me.”

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