A collective gasp. Then a flurry of applause. Carla Bruni has just stepped onto the runway in a black shift dress, and sparkling from her neck, the Bulgari Tribute to Paris necklace; a magnificent jewel bearing a repeated Eiffel Tower motif encrusted with 461 emeralds totalling 26.63 carats, framed by 317 diamonds totalling 28.87 carats, and at the heart, a 35.53-carat emerald in Bulgari’s signature cabochon cut.
We’re inside the Italian Embassy located on Paris’s left bank, and the City of
