Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida to auction Bulgari jewels

GENEVA - Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida is to sell some of her jewellery in Geneva in May with part of the proceeds going to help stem cell research, auction house Sotheby's said in a statement Tuesday.

Designed by Italian creator Bulgari in the 1950s and 1960s, the items include pearl and diamond earrings and a 19.3-carat diamond ring. Both pieces are valued at between $600,000 and one million dollars (465,000 - 775,000 euros).

The jewels were displayed at an exhibition entitled "Bulgari: 125 years of Italian magnificence" at the Grand Palais in Paris in late 2010.

Some of the most sought-after of the 22 pieces of jewellery that will go under the hammer are to be shown in London, Rome and New York in the run-up to the auction in Switzerland on May 14.

The 85-year-old star of "The World's Most Beautiful Woman" and "Come September," one of Italy's best-known actresses, says she wants to devote herself to sculpture and "a sculptor doesn't need jewellery", the Sotheby's statement said.

Part of the proceeds will go towards funding an international hospital for stem cell research, a cause Lollobrigida described as "close to her heart" and something that "every sick child should be able to benefit from".

Geneva regularly hosts important sales of high-end jewellery by the Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses each May and in the autumn.GENEVA, March 26, 2013 (AFP)