10 Movies Where Jewelry Took the Spotlight

10 Movies Where Jewelry Took the Spotlight

Some movies stick in your memory because of the clothes or the music. Others do it with a piece of jewelry. These films don’t use baubles as small touches. The jewelry becomes part of the story. Sometimes, it even steals the show. Here are ten films and shows where jewelry took center stage. In each case, I’ve included which piece stood out, how it tied into the film, and what kind of attention it drew outside theaters.

1. Ocean’s Eight (2018)

This movie builds its story around a single necklace. The target is a replica of the Cartier Jeanne Toussaint necklace. Cartier made it for the film, using old designs from its own history. The prop’s “value” was set at $150 million in the story. But what caught my eye was the way each shot lingered on its shape and sparkle, especially as Sandra Bullock’s crew worked out their plan to steal it at the Met Gala.

Cartier, in a 2021 press release, said the replica was faithful to 1930s sketches, and their own jewelers built it in Paris. In movie forums after its release, people asked whether the original necklace existed. It did, in a different form, but only the film version looked exactly like the piece Anne Hathaway wore. After the movie, interest in “Toussaint” style pieces rose on sites like 1stDibs.

This wasn’t only about a plot device. You could see Cartier wanted to get people thinking about their high jewelry at a time when red carpet coverage was everywhere. The way they featured the necklace in every major scene made you focus on the detail.

2. House of Gucci (2021)

Here, the jewelry isn’t the goal of a crime. Instead, it shows personal taste and family power. Patrizia Reggiani, played by Lady Gaga, wears jewelry that seems perfectly chosen for the 1980s. The pieces came from Bulgari’s archives but also included chunky vintage gold by lesser-known makers.

In an interview with Variety, costume designer Janty Yates pointed out that she looked for gold necklaces and earrings that people would actually buy in the mid-1980s, not collector’s items. Bold chains and earrings mark Lady Gaga’s character as someone who wanted to be noticed. They fit the Gucci brand’s look at the time, but also the wealthy Italian social scene.

After the movie, fashion sites began showing more 1980s jewelry in their reports, and auction houses reported more queries about similar pieces. That showed the film had pushed some people to hunt for their own statement gold jewelry.

3. No Time to Die (2021)

The James Bond films have always paid attention to detail. In No Time to Die, jewelry is used with the same care. Ana de Armas, as Paloma, appears in a scene wearing Chopard diamonds. She wore a necklace set with large teardrop-shaped stones, and matching earrings, which gave her a different look from the usual Bond girl.

Chopard worked with the filmmakers to create these pieces, which were promoted as part of a larger Natural Diamond Council campaign. In press coverage at the time, the brand noted that the necklace included both baguette and teardrop cuts, with white gold backing. The set was valued at more than $500,000.

Bond fans noticed the switch from watches to jewelry as a marker of style. After the movie, searches for Chopard necklaces jumped, and the company released a limited run of “Bond” pieces through select stores.

4. Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Jewelry matters a lot in this film. One piece, the emerald-cut diamond engagement ring worn by Michelle Yeoh’s character Eleanor, became a talking point when the movie came out. What people do not always know is that it came from Michelle Yeoh’s personal collection. It is a 40-carat diamond, rectangular and clear, with small side stones.

In interviews, Yeoh said she loaned it because nothing in the prop department felt right for the scene. The ring’s size and shape made it a symbol on screen: old money and very traditional family expectations. Fashion sites pointed out the choice to show a diamond rather than a colored stone, which is more common in rare, old Asian jewelry.

After the film, there were new questions about Asian representation in luxury, leading some jewelers to highlight their work with clients from the region. Auction houses noted that interest in emerald-cut stones rose among younger buyers.

5. Death on the Nile (2022)

This movie spends a lot of time showing off 1930s jewelry. The standout is a necklace worn by Lucy Boynton’s character, which was marked DRGM, a German trademark. The style fits square shapes and geometric patterns, true to the Art Deco period.

Costume designer Alexandra Byrne worked with Christie’s and the Met’s jewelry archives for accuracy. After-release, queries to Christie’s about Art Deco jewelry jumped by 40 percent, according to their 2024 report.

The necklace was not a famous piece before filming, but it became known after the movie’s release. Vintage sellers started adding “Nile-style” tags to their Deco pieces as fans looked to copy the look.

6. Uncut Gems (2019)

No other movie in recent years has made a single stone so central to its plot. Here, Adam Sandler’s character becomes obsessed with a huge opal. The gem is a fictional 600-carat opal from Ethiopia. The one you see on screen is a prop built from smaller Ethiopian opals embedded in resin, weighing about 2.1 kilograms.

Collectors started asking if opals of that size existed. After the film, the Gemological Institute of America received 25 percent more requests than usual for their opal authentication service. Jewelers reported more sales of black opals and special-cut stones.

The opal in the movie looks rough and uneven, which matched the main character’s life. It never looks polished or symmetrical, making it feel real. On auction and resale sites, searches for African opals spiked in the months after the film.

7. The Crown (2016–2023)

While this is a series, not a film, it puts so much focus on royal jewelry that it stands out from any single movie. The show’s attention to detail ran deep: replicas of the Queen’s Cullinan III and V Brooch, the Vladimir Tiara, and the Cambridge Lover’s Knot all appear.

Garrard and Asprey recreated these pieces for the show. After season four, the Royal Collection Trust of Britain logged its highest website traffic ever. Fans went looking for side-by-side image comparisons of the real and replica jewelry. Replica brooches saw more sales at specialty jewelry retailers after each season.

Even British newspapers began reporting which pieces were worn in each episode. The Crown made a point to show close-ups of the jewelry, letting you see the real structure.

8. Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

The story is full of old-fashioned jewelry, but the item that stood out was a Bakelite and diamanté necklace. It is worn by Daisy Ridley’s character in the film. This necklace was a genuine vintage piece from the 1930s. After filming, Sotheby’s auctioned it for $8,900. The bidding started at $1,200 and picked up after the film’s release.

Jewelry bloggers took note of the sale as an example of how movie props can sell for much more than similar untitled pieces. The listing included proof that it had appeared in the film, which helped it stand out. After the auction, other sellers tried to use “Orient Express” in their listings for 1930s Bakelite jewelry.

Collectors discussed the practicality of wearing such pieces, saying the necklace showed its age, but was still sturdy. It was one of the few times a screen-worn necklace moved straight from film to auction and into a private collection within twelve months of a movie’s debut.

9. Barbie (2023)

Barbie movies have had plenty of jewelry, but the 2023 movie with Margot Robbie chose something different. Instead of jewels worth millions, the team used a Missoma “Ridged Heart Charm” necklace in rose gold. Its price at release was $195.

Fans noticed it right away, since Margot Robbie wore it in a poster. Missoma, a UK-based jewelry company, saw sales of this necklace climb by 300 percent after the movie came out. The company sold out of the style twice over before announcing that it would become part of their core collection.

What stood out was how many people shared photos of themselves wearing the necklace on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, making “affordable luxury” a talking point. This was a shift from movies that promoted only rare or costly jewelry.

10. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Here, jewelry was part of the story’s world-building. Costume designer Ruth E. Carter made necklaces and chest pieces that looked like rare metal but were created with new methods. Julia Koerner designed and 3D printed several pieces to fit each actor’s measurements.

The most famous item was Shuri’s “vibranium” necklace, which glowed and looked heavy but was actually very light. After the movie, the Met’s Costume Institute took several of Koerner’s pieces for display. Carter’s use of 3D printing let the team build custom jewelry that could stand up to stunts and action.

Interviews and press materials confirmed that students started asking programs like MIT and RISD about jewelry-focused design classes after seeing the movie. These pieces were talked about as examples of the future of jewelry-making.

More on Screen Jewelry Trends

The last few years saw jewelry props in movies reach new levels of attention. The 2023 “Lights, Camera, Jewels!” show at the Academy Museum had forty-eight screen-used jewelry pieces. Auction houses like Christie’s ran “Screen to Jewels” auctions. In 2024 alone, Christie’s sold $4.2 million worth of movie-worn jewelry in a single sale.

TikTok made its mark with the #MovieJewelryChallenge, seen in more than two billion views. On Etsy, stores listing “screen-accurate” copies of movie rings and necklaces reported a seventy-two percent increase in year-over-year sales. Fans want to own a piece of the movies they love, but they do not need it to come from Cartier or Bulgari.

This new interest matters to everyone from high-end jewelers to costume jewelry makers. If people like what they see on screen, they look for similar styles to add to their own rotation.

Jewelry in these movies doesn’t blend into the background. Whether it is a diamond necklace, a chunky ‘80s chain, or a fake stone meant to fuel a story, each piece helps set the tone. Sometimes, it even draws real-world audiences into collecting or copying what they see on screen.

This selection shows how film and jewelry keep feeding off each other. Sometimes, a movie boosts demand for a classic look, like Art Deco. Sometimes, it gives affordable brands their moment. And once in a while, a single stone becomes as memorable as any line spoken on screen.