Tennis Bracelets Ultimate Guide

The True story of the name “tennis bracelet”

The term for a flexible bracelet with a row of precious stones came into use thanks to Chris Evert, the first racket of the world in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the first tennis player to wear diamonds on the court. The heyday of her sports career came at a time when attitudes towards jewelry began to change, women began to wear them with everyday clothes, and, moreover, began to buy jewelry for themselves.

In most sources, you will find information that Evert’s bracelet was called “tennis” after a match at the 1987 US Open, when she stopped the game because she lost the bracelet and continued the competition only after she was found. The incident did take place, but it happened earlier, at the 1978 US Open. It is difficult to say at what stage the confusion with the numbers occurred, but Evert’s contribution to the popularization of this jewelry cannot be overestimated.

From the July 17, 1987 issue of the New York Times (that is, printed a few months before that US Open match to which everyone is unanimously referring), we learned that before getting the now actually official name “tennis”, similar the bracelet was called “infinite” (eternity bracelet) and was supposed to symbolize the endless love of the one who gave the girl this jewelry.

Thanks to Evert, however, it turned out that the idea of ​​buying a diamond bracelet that can be worn to sports appeals to girls much more than a romantic dreams: the change in name from “infinite” to “tennis” led to an explosive increase in sales. “Before the advent of the tennis bracelet, no one wore diamonds with a tracksuit,” a pleased Tiffany & Co. representative told the NY Times.

10 Tips for Choosing Tennis Bracelets

1. Regarding classic diamond jewelry (studs, tennis bracelets, tracks), in some countries it has become a practice to update or change these jewelry to similar ones, but with a larger carat of stones. You don’t have to wear your tennis bracelet or eternity ring all your life. You can sell it (in some cases, even change it) and, having reported the money, take a ring with better characteristics (more often we are talking about larger stones).

Therefore, of course, it is better to have a certificate for such products. The most respected certificate for diamonds and diamond jewelry is of course GIA, GRS, HRD. But in general, at least anyone certificate is better than none at all.

2. Many have heard of the GIA and often ask for a separate certificate from the GIA for each stone. You need to know that the GIA only certifies individual diamonds from 0.2 carats.

3. The popularity of bracelets, including tennis, has been significantly influenced by Instagram, as hands are often in the frame. Therefore, bracelets are now more popular than 10 years ago.

4. Tennis can be combined with each other (combining different carat, gold color) and with other bracelets (for example, they look great with Juste un Clou or “Love” from Cartier). But keep in mind that smooth polished gold bracelets will scratch a little on a tennis bracelet, which has many corners and fasteners.

5. Pay attention to the reliability of the clasp, as such bracelets can be a weak point.

6. The most “wearable” carat for every day is 3-5 carats.

7. Often in bracelets of not very expensive brands (due to the large number of stones), diamonds with different characteristics in color and clarity (heterogeneous) can be used. And this is normal, the main thing is that there is not a big scatter and that the whole product looks good.

8. In this type of bracelets, 2 types of stone setting are most often found:
– Prong setting: special clows hold the stone so that the light passes through it in the maximum amount (both from above and from the sides).
– Bezel set. The play of light is less intense, but the jewels look larger thanks to the metal surrounding the stones.

9. Right size. Measure your wrist with a small tolerance – a finger should fit freely between the bracelet and the hand.

10. Tennis bracelet is one of the most easily sold used pieces of jewelry.

Tennis bracelet – perfect for layering

How to repeat the trend for stacks (rows) of bracelets with minimum effort and maximum results?
Modern life is such that we often do not have time for a long search for a jewelry look, there is no certainty whether the jewelry is combined with each other, whether they look fashionable, whether they are versatile enough to go out more often.

Our life hack is two tennis bracelets. The best combination is the same cuts, but different sizes of gemstones. And individually, these bracelets will easily complement any of your looks.

And the continuation of the story

Surprisingly, so far many have managed to make money on the popularity of the precious accessory, but not Evert herself. Now she decided to correct this injustice and, together with the Monica Rich Kosann brand, presented her own collection of tennis bracelets. A total of 13 models are presented, the cost of the most expensive made of yellow gold with diamonds and emerald is up to 37 thousand US dollars. Pay attention to pendants with pear-shaped stones – they symbolize drops of sweat.