Vintage and Antique Bracelets and Bangles

Antique and vintage bracelets and bangles

A bangle is rigid, either a solid hoop that slips over the hand or a hinged hoop that opens with a clasp. A bracelet is flexible, made of links, panels or strands. This page brings together both, from the Victorian period to the 1970s. Each listing gives the metal, the stones, the internal measurements or length and photographs from several angles.

Victorian bangles and bracelets

Hinged gold bangles were the Victorian everyday piece: set across the front with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, old cut diamonds or seed pearls, or decorated with twisted rope and engraved panels. Snake bracelets and bangles, coiled or double-headed, follow the fashion set by Queen Victoria's snake engagement ring. Italian micromosaic bangles and locket bracelets were made in high-carat gold.

Edwardian and Art Deco bracelets

From about 1900 platinum allowed fine, flexible bracelets set with diamonds and pearls. Art Deco bracelets of the 1920s and 1930s are flat, geometric lines of platinum set with diamonds and calibré-cut sapphires, emeralds or rubies, the form behind most later diamond line bracelets. Bracelets described as "Art Deco style" were made later and appear under the Vintage filter.

Vintage gold bracelets

Vintage bracelets from the 1940s onwards are bolder and heavier in gold: curb links, Italian gold chains, enamelled snake bracelets, multi-strand gemstone bracelets and two-colour gold of the 1970s. Bracelet watches, where the dial is hidden in the bracelet, are listed here too.

Diamond and sapphire bracelets

Antique diamond bracelets use old mine and old European cut diamonds, cut by hand; vintage line and station bracelets use modern brilliants. Sapphires rank 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness, after diamond at 10, which makes them a practical stone for a bracelet worn every day. Signed bracelets by Van Cleef & Arpels, Mauboussin, Mikimoto and Marco Bicego are named as such on their listings.

Archaeological revival and gold cuffs

In the 19th century, jewellers in Rome and London copied ancient Etruscan and Greek goldwork, decorating bangles and cuffs with granulation, tiny beads of gold fused to the surface, and fine wirework. The Castellani workshop in Rome led the style, and British makers followed it.

Line and tennis bracelets

A line bracelet is a single row of stones of equal size, set in flexible links. The name tennis bracelet dates from 1987, when Chris Evert stopped a US Open match to look for her diamond line bracelet on the court. Vintage line bracelets are set with diamonds, sapphires or rubies.

Sizing a bracelet or bangle

A bangle must pass over the widest part of the hand unless it is hinged, so each listing gives the internal measurements. A bracelet is measured by length from end to end. Measure a bracelet you already wear, or tell us your wrist size and we will advise on the fit of a particular piece.

Clasps and safety chains

Victorian bangles and bracelets close with a box clasp, a tongue that springs into a box, often backed by a figure-of-eight safety catch or a safety chain. Each listing describes the clasp and any safety fitting.

Reading the metal

British gold carries a fineness mark: 18 or 750 for 18KT, 15 for 15KT, 14 or 585 for 14KT and 9 or 375 for 9KT. 15KT was a legal British standard only from 1854 to 1932, so a 15KT mark dates a piece to that window on its own. Platinum was not hallmarked in Britain until 1975, so earlier platinum is often unmarked or stamped PLAT. The metal of every piece is stated on its listing.

Seeing a bracelet in person

You can view any bracelet by appointment at 47 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London W1S 2PG, or at our office at Unit 20B Lakes Industrial Park, Braintree, Essex CM7 3RU. If you cannot visit, ask for more photographs or a video of the piece.