The Serpenti Tubogas coils around the wrist like the snake it is named for — sensual, a little bold, and entirely about the lady wearing it rather than anyone watching. It is a piece bought for oneself in the fullest sense, the Roman confidence Elizabeth Taylor wore on set made wearable every day. What it costs comes down to how much snake you want.
A pre-owned Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas watch in the UK starts around £3,500–£4,500 for a single-coil steel model, sits roughly £8,000–£13,000 in two-tone steel and rose gold, and climbs past £14,000 — and well into five figures — for diamond-set and full-gold pieces. Those are asking prices as of July 2026, and the config is everything: coil count and metal move the price far more than age does.
Where does the Serpenti come from?
Two ideas meet in this watch. The first is Tubogas — Italian for “gas pipe” — a goldsmithing technique in which thin metal strips are wound around a core that is then removed, leaving a hollow, springy coil with no soldering. The second is the serpent, which Bulgari first turned into a timepiece in 1948: a coiled bracelet-watch with the dial hidden in the snake’s head, the body wrapping the wrist. The snake swallowing its own tail is an old symbol of eternity, which gave the design its charge.
Its fame owes a great deal to Elizabeth Taylor. While filming Cleopatra at Cinecittà in Rome in 1962–63, she became a fixture at Bulgari’s Via dei Condotti flagship, bought a gold Serpenti and wore it on set. A single photograph of her in it is widely credited with making the Serpenti a global icon. She collected serpent pieces for the rest of her life.
What does a pre-owned Serpenti Tubogas cost in 2026?
Segment by coil count and metal, and never blend a steel single-coil with a gold, diamond-set double-coil — they are worlds apart. The ranges below are wider-market asking prices from Chrono24 and specialist dealers, as of July 2026.
| Configuration | Pre-owned asking (UK, Jul 2026) |
|---|---|
| Steel, single coil, quartz (e.g. ref 102826) | ~£3,500–£6,500 |
| Steel, double coil (two-twirl) | ~£9,000–£12,000 |
| Two-tone — steel + rose or yellow gold | ~£8,000–£13,000 |
| Gold + diamond / gem-set high jewellery | £14,500 to £60,000+ |
The caveats matter here. These are wider open-market floors, not Chrono6538’s prices — we sell authenticated, checked pieces at a premium to the bare private-market figure. They are asking prices, not sold figures. A single-coil steel Serpenti is genuinely one of the more accessible ways into a heritage Italian house; a rose-gold, diamond-set double-coil is a different purchase entirely. And none of this is investment advice — values can fall as well as hold.
Single coil or double coil, steel or gold?
The single-coil steel Serpenti Tubogas is the entry point and, for many, the cleanest look: one wrap of that pipe-like bracelet, the teardrop head, a quartz movement. It wears light and reads unmistakably Bulgari.
Add a second coil and the watch becomes more of a statement, spiralling twice around the wrist; double-coil examples command a clear premium over single-coil in the same metal. Step across to two-tone steel and rose gold, or to full gold with a diamond bezel, and you move from accessible icon to serious jewellery — which is exactly the ladder Bulgari intends.
How has it held its value?
The Serpenti has been on a long upward run of desirability, helped by Bulgari leaning hard into it across watches and jewellery. The gold and two-tone pieces are cushioned by their metal content and tend to hold better than the steel quartz models, which behave more like fashion watches second-hand. What supports the whole line is that it is not a passing design: the coiled snake has been continuous Bulgari DNA since 1948, and the Tubogas bracelet is the most heritage-faithful version of it. That is a description of how these watches have behaved, not a forecast, and it is not investment advice.
Buying a pre-owned Serpenti Tubogas
Decide first on coil count and metal, since that sets the budget. Check the flexibility and condition of the Tubogas bracelet, the state of any diamond setting, and buy with box and papers where you can. If you would rather have the authentication and guarantee taken care of, that is what we do.
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Asking prices from Chrono24 and specialist dealers. Last updated July 2026. Figures are indicative and change with the market.