Cartier Love Bracelet

[Lelee]

NicoleKass, I love your bracelets and I am so jealous!! I actually like the fact that they are a little scratched up- adds character and shows that they're well loved! Lucky girl!!!

 

[mkd1187]

I cannot tell by the pictures. Is the gold bright polished? Or satin brushed? someone please help

 

[cocohokkaido]

From what I know it has to be bought by someone else as a gift to you. I think that's really sweet and makes it extra special. My gay boyfriend and I are planning to to buy it for each other, even if I can somehow convince my real boyfriend to get it for me first!

I love the yellow gold one with diamonds in every other bolt.

 

[jeansandtshirt]

NicoleKass, I love your bracelets and I am so jealous!! I actually like the fact that they are a little scratched up- adds character and shows that they're well loved! Lucky girl!!!

I agree, although I must come clean and admit to my patina "fetish". In pretty much anything I like the worn look. Honest wear mind you, not the faux manufactured wear.

As for Cartier, I see they have them for men. I don't find them masculine enough for my tastes, although I do like the concept. I couldn't see myself working out with one on, so I think I would be messing with the screw 10 times during the week. lol

 

[SomethingElse]

I wonder how it feels in the sauna? I'd prefer this design in steel instead of gold. I wonder what the weight is, too.

And I totally agree ^ an honest patina. Very well said!

 

[Guessgirl96]

Patiently waiting for my bf to become successful enough where we can buy me one...

 

[Meg]

I love these bracelets. Though I believe that Cartier wasn't the original. If you search on ebay you see there is another old brand from the 60's and 70's who did it. I don't know, maybe cartier did it first. I like the concept enough that for me i don't need it to be cartier. I'd love to have one or two though and my boyfriend to have the screwdriver. I'm such a geek

 

[ashtray___girl]

Ah, I think Cartier has been doing it since the 70's or so, I'm not sure but I think it is probably the original. And it is considered bad luck to buy one for yourself!

Does anybody else love the necklace... $1,350

Source iheartthat.com, click to see pictures of Lindsay Lohan wearing. I like it because it looks really nice around the neck, and I've heard the bracelets are heavy.

Just wish that was my price range... Went by Cartier at the mall last weekend, it made me depressed.

 

[le go garçon 84]

i think the concept of someone you love locking it in it's so romantic and sexy also (mostly romantic though) but they are SO expensive, they are beautiful

 

[jeansandtshirt]

Though I believe that Cartier wasn't the original. If you search on ebay you see there is another old brand from the 60's and 70's who did it. I don't know, maybe cartier did it first. I like the concept enough that for me i don't need it to be cartier. I'd love to have one or two though and my boyfriend to have the screwdriver. I'm such a geek

Using my best google skills (oxymoron), I'm finding that:

"The ubiquitous screw design has become the modern symbol of a committed relationship. In 1969, inspired by the screw motif on Cartier’s famous Santos Dumont watches and legends of chastity belts worn to protect fidelity, Italo-American designer Aldo Cipullo partnered with Cartier New York to create a Love bracelet that had to be bolted together to encircle the wrist. The original Love bracelets were signed Cartier-ALDO CIPULLO."

I have seen the copies on ebay as well. They seem to be Charles Revson/Revlon electroplated and made in 1970 or shortly thereafter. They look to be collectible as well.

 

[jeansandtshirt]

i think the concept of someone you love locking it in it's so romantic and sexy also (mostly romantic though) but they are SO expensive, they are beautiful

The more I think about this, it's too bad there isn't a cheaper execution of this concept. I hate to use the word copy, but something in this same genre I think could be done without copying it. B)

 

[Meg]

yes it was those Charles ones I was seeing on ebay. They are just as old. I suppose the original knockoffs They are a lot more reasonably priced. I wouldn't mind getting one of them. Must remember to mention this around birthday time to the boy.......

 

[jeansandtshirt]

Found some more info, figured this was deserving of a mention:

"When medieval warriors headed off to battle, they liked to "lock up" their wives with a chastity belt to stave off the possibility of any monkey business while they were away taking care of business. In 1969, a young Italian designer who had recently joined Cartier, Aldo Cipullo, liked the idea of showing the world you were "locked up" in a committed relationship, which led him to create a now iconic two-piece bracelet that had to be bolted together to encircle the wrist: the solid gold Love Bracelet & its accompanying screwdriver.

Cartier management liked the idea that no was was allowed to buy one for their own wrist, and to promote the new design, they got 25 high profile couples to lock each other up and formally exchange screwdrivers: Nancy & Frank Sinatra, Ali McGraw & Steve McQueen, Sophia Loren & Carlo Ponti, and the Duke & Duchess of Windsor, and Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor. The list of celeb fans, both older & newer, is seemingly endless: Barbara Streisand, Diana Ross, Reggie Jackson, John McEnroe, Elton John, Tori Spelling, Jane Fonda, Liza Minelli, and - back in the day - Madge, when she still Madonna. Recent converts include Jamie Fox, Mary J. Blige, and Lindsay Lohan.

But no one loves a Love Bracelet as much as a lady of a certain age of who once showed up at a Cartier reception wearing six on one wrist, and three more on the other. "Listen, honey," she explained to astonished bystanders. "I've had a few lovers in my time, and I made each one of them give me a Love Bracelet. For me, these nine bracelets are like the notches on a gunfighter's pistol!"

- Lesley Scott"

Looks like Frank gave his daughter one, but I'm curious on the 9 the one lady had.

 

[le go garçon 84]

great, very interesting thanks for the info! There are some Cartier/Aldo ones going for aprox. $70 @ ebay

 

[just_me]

I love the idea of this bracelet.. it's so romantic but it has to be given to you..not bought.. I can't believe they are selling "fakes" of this on ebay takes away the novelty.. nothing is sacred these days.

 

[PursePrincess]

I Want this baby in yellow gold ,BADLY ,but i'm afraid i would have to buy it for myself ,because,i cant go to my husband and say"Darling,I want a Cartier love Bracelet",since he has'nt had the initiative to give me one ,and what is so special about asking for it,might as well get it myself!!

 

[just_me]

^ How about subtle hints?

 

[saann]

purseprincess
put it on your (or even better: his) screensaver and leave a note on the fridge saying where he can buy it and for how much =P

and when he gives you it act surprised and say: how in the world did you know what to get me?

 

[PursePrincess]

purseprincess
put it on your (or even better: his) screensaver and leave a note on the fridge saying where he can buy it and for how much =P

and when he gives you it act surprised and say: how in the world did you know what to get me?

 

[*k.a.t.e*]

I'd never heard of them until I saw an ad for them in Elle today, they're so cute!