Politician Christine Holgate spotted wearing a Bulgari

Christine Holgate was photographed wearing a Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas in yellow gold during what appears to be a Senate or parliamentary committee appearance — a setting that has become somewhat synonymous with her public profile following the controversy that thrust her into the national spotlight. The watch, coiled visibly around her wrist and stacked with additional gold bangles, draws the eye immediately, the serpentine form doing exactly what Bulgari intended it to do since the 1940s.

The Serpenti Tubogas is among Bulgari's most historically significant designs. The tubogas technique — a method of interweaving flat gold strips without solder to create a flexible, coiling tube — was borrowed from late 19th-century goldsmithing traditions and reinterpreted by Bulgari into wristwatches from the late 1940s onward. The snake motif, long a symbol of eternal wisdom and protection in Roman antiquity, became Bulgari's signature vehicle for this craft. The result is a bracelet watch that functions simultaneously as high jewellery and precision timepiece.

Modern Serpenti Tubogas references in 18kt yellow gold typically house a Swiss quartz movement within a small oval or round case integrated seamlessly into the coil terminus. The dial is characteristically minimal — often guilloché or lacquered in a single colour — with indices reduced to near-invisibility in deference to the bracelet's primacy. Water resistance is modest, as expected of a jewellery watch of this construction. The bracelet itself can wrap one-and-a-half or double turns depending on the reference, and from the image, Holgate's piece appears to be a single or one-and-a-half coil variant.

Collector appetite for Serpenti Tubogas in solid yellow gold remains consistent. These are not speculative flip pieces — they occupy a specific niche for buyers who understand Bulgari's Roman heritage and the irreplaceable craftsmanship of tubogas construction. Pre-owned examples in yellow gold regularly trade between $8,000 and $18,000 depending on coil length, dial condition, and completeness of documentation.

Holgate's choice of the Serpenti Tubogas — notably the same brand that previously attracted public scrutiny when Bulgari watches were gifted to Australia Post executives — carries an unmistakable subtext. Whether deliberate or incidental, wearing a Bulgari in a formal public setting reads as a statement of composure under pressure.