Scarlett Johansson is amᴀssing a small but mighty collection of Victorian-era jewelry in her spare time. The actress buys pieces here and there each year, with the intention of bestowing the baubles upon her 8-year-old daughter once she’s “a young adult,” Johansson tells me over the phone from her home in Los Angeles. “My idea was to put them all in a jewelry box and eventually give it to her,” she adds. “Like, here’s a little start, you know?”

While Johansson has a personal pᴀssion for vintage jewelry, she’s also deeply interested in the styles of today having been named an ambᴀssador for David Yurman last year. In addition to starring in the jeweler’s campaigns, the Black Widow star has partnered with the house for the second year in a row on a curated ᴀssortment of jewelry pieces benefitting the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Through June 30, shoppers can purchase the collection handpicked by Johansson, with proceeds going toward the Manhattan-based organization, which connects young New York women and gender-nonconforming youth of color with free year-round programming and mentoring. Below, Johansson discusses the latest collaboration, her family heirlooms, and her plans for Cannes–where her latest film, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, will premiere.

How did you decide which 12 styles would be featured in the charity shop?

Evan Yurman [president of David Yurman] and I talked about it a lot—how can we be most efficient with this? We wanted the pieces to be accessible so that many different people could participate. At first, it was like, let’s do only charms. But we figured that might be limiting. So we opened it up to some of the huggies, amulets, and a few little pieces that were more like everyday, layering jewelry. We thought it would be cute to have some personal choices: like, I put the Sagittarius symbol in there; I love the evil eye and wear it daily. Evan suggested the pinky ring because, obviously, that’s an iconic Yurman piece.

“We sH๏τ it out East, on Long Island, where the Yurman family has a lot of memories and love for the area,” Johansson says of her latest campaign for David Yurman. “I was like, this isn’t bad—I’m wearing all these gorgeous diamonds on the beach, it’s golden hour, we’re gonna drink a margarita after this. It was a very pleasant way to work.”

How does your approach to choosing jewelry you wear in your everyday, personal life differ from the jewelry you wear on the red carpet?

I wear jewelry every day. I’ve had a lot of piercings in my ear since I was a kid, so I typically wear comfortable, meaningful jewelry. Obviously, I wear my wedding band, my engagement ring, things my husband got me, little personal things. My daughter bought me a necklace on Mother’s Day last year. I cried!

But as for red carpet, that’s fantasy. For instance, we’re going to Cannes, and for that, I’ll go to Yurman. To be able to open their vault… [laughs]. They have so much jewelry, so many trays of incredible things. They make one-offs, too, with these amazing stones, because Evan is a huge collector. On the red carpet, I wear things you would not normally have access to. It’s like fairy-princess jewelry. When else are you ever gonna wear millions of dollars worth of insanely giant, gorgeous stones?

Courtesy of David Yurman

Speaking of Cannes, Asteroid City premieres at the film festival this year. What was it like, channeling Hollywood Golden Age actresses like Judy Garland to play your character, Midge Campbell?

She’s not necessarily [inspired directly by] Judy Garland—she looks a little bit like Judy Garland, but that was also the look of that particular time. I mean, I absolutely love Judy Garland. She inspired me as a kid to be an actor. I idolized her. So I’m excited the performance draws those comparisons.