Cartier Love Bracelet History & Fine Jewelry Inspiration

While Cartier’s “Love” motif is one of the fine jeweler’s most recognizable and popular styles, the design is relatively new in the scope of Cartier’s over 170 years in business.

The style came into existence in 1969 with the well-known Cartier Love Bracelet when jewelry designer Aldo Cipullo introduced the design to Cartier New York’s chief executive officer Michael Thomas at a time when the fine jewelry company was broken up regionally.  

Cipullo, an Italian-born jewelry designer, was driven to conceptualize the Cartier Love Bracelet based on his own experience with heartbreak. The bracelet was meant to signify a committed relationship, as the style needs to be fastened with the help of another individual. Cipullo also designed one of Cartier’s other most recognizable motifs, the Juste Un Clou. 

The Italian jewelry designer also took inspiration from American hardware stores for the bracelet, designing the style with visible screws. At the time, the style was viewed as unconventional and brought in a new era of modernity in fine jewelry, shifting the perception around the accessories and making it more acceptable to wear them every day rather than just on special occasions.

Cipullo originally presented his Love Bracelet design to Tiffany & Co., however the fine jeweler rejected the style. 

At Cartier, the Love Bracelet quickly grew in popularity, popping up on the biggest celebrity couples of the 1970s, such as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and Ali McGraw and Steve McQueen.

The popularity led to new versions and styles under Cartier’s “Love” motif family. In 1978, Cipullo introduced the Love ring, and the following year debuted the Cartier Love Bracelet with diamonds. 

After Cipullo’s untimely death in 1984, Cartier continued expanding the “Love” collection. The fine jeweler introduced white gold versions in 1993 and rose gold versions in 2002. In 2016, Cartier debuted a mini version of the Love Bracelet, and in 2019 rereleased a cuff version that had been introduced in 2008.

In 2009, Cartier celebrated its 100-year anniversary operating in the U.S. with a collection of limited-edition Love Bracelets adorned with colorful stones. 

Today, Cartier’s “Love” collection is one of the fine jeweler’s bestselling and most recognizable. The collection has expanded well beyond the initial Love Bracelet and now offers many styles across rings, earrings, necklaces and more. The styles come in solid gold as well as with diamonds. 

Cipullo’s initial Cartier Love Bracelet retailed for $250. The style is now priced at $7,350 for a solid gold bracelet, and goes up to $62,000 for a diamond pavé version.

Cartier has filed several trademarks in response to the “Love” motif’s popularity. In 1974, Cartier successfully filed a trademark for “Love Bracelet,” specific to the fine jeweler’s spelling with a line drawn through the “O” and “E.” 

In 2019, Cartier attempted to file a trademark for “love,” however was unsuccessful after a court in Singapore dismissed the filing. 

After 55 years, Cartier’s “Love” motif still reigns in popularity, and the fine jeweler regularly celebrates the collection. In 2021, Cartier released a campaign celebrating the Love collection alongside some of its other classic styles. 

The timeless and classic nature of Cartier’s “Love” motif has made the style resonate with shoppers from generation to generation, and is sure to continue its longevity for more decades to come.