Vintage Cartier Love U Bangle in White Gold

If the robust locking mechanism and miniature screw heads that characterized the Cartier Love bracelet when it first appeared conjured crude, medieval hardware, there’s a good reason. When Italian-born American jewelry designer Aldo Cipullo created the company’s signature bangle, he was inspired by chastity belts. Cipullo believed that the bond and commitment embodied in love deserved their own distinctive symbol.

When he designed the Love bracelet, in 1969, Cipullo (1935–84) hadn't been working long for Cartier, where he was hired only a decade after arriving in the United States. In fact, it was his first piece for the internationally acclaimed French jewelry house, which already counted numerous celebrities among its loyal clientele and had attracted legions of admirers for its brooches and Santos de Cartier wristwatch.

The son of a well-known costume jewelry manufacturer, Cipullo developed an appreciation for design in his youth and gained firsthand experience with manufacturing jewelry during an apprenticeship at his father’s factory in Florence. After arriving in New York City, in 1959, he studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, then worked for Tiffany Co. and David Webb, honing his talent for crafting rich and innovative designs before finally landing at Cartier.

As for the history of the Cartier Love bracelet, its launch created a frenzy, stoked by media buzz and a publicity campaign involving marquee-name couples like Nancy and Frank Sinatra, who happily accepted prototypes of the piece. It wasn’t just the bracelet’s look that generated conversation.

The yellow-gold band, rimmed in mock flathead screws, was intended to be worn all day and all night by both men and women and not matched to specific attire. These attributes were certainly audacious for luxury jewelry of the era, but Cipullo’s now-instantly recognizable piece was also endowed with narrative.

Although it’s since been updated to lock and unlock on its own, the original Love bracelet came with a gold-vermeil screwdriver. One lover wore Cipullo’s striking cuff, while the other carried the tool to open and close it. By design, Cartier’s Love bracelet is a physical representation of love’s promise — a clean and elegant symbol, wearable by anyone.

For its extraordinary range of bracelets, watches, rings and other adornments, French luxury house Cartier is undeniably one of the most well known and internationally revered jewelers in the world among clients both existing and aspirational.

Perhaps 1847 was not the ideal time to open a new watchmaking and jewelry business, as the French Revolution was not kind to the aristocracy who could afford such luxuries. Nevertheless, it was the year Louis-François Cartier (1819–1904) — who was born into poverty — founded his eponymous empire, assuming control of the workshop of watchmaker Adolphe Picard, under whom he had previously been employed as an assistant. Of course, in the beginning, it was a relatively modest affair, but by the late 1850s, Cartier had its first royal client, Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, niece of Napoleon Bonaparte, who commissioned the jeweler to design brooches, earrings and other accessories.

Under the leadership of Louis-François’s son, Alfred, who took over in 1874, business boomed. Royalty around the world wore Cartier pieces, including Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the Maharaja of Patiala and King Edward VII, who had 27 tiaras made by the jewelry house for his coronation in 1902 and issued Cartier a royal warrant in 1904. (Today, the British royal family still dons Cartier pieces; Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, regularly sports a Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch.)

Cartier’s golden years, however, began when Alfred introduced his three sons, Louis, Pierre and Jacques, to the business. The brothers expanded Cartier globally: Louis reigned in Paris, Pierre in New York and Jacques in London, ensuring their brand’s consistency at their branches across the world. The trio also brought in such talents as Charles Jacqueau and Jeanne Toussaint.

One of Cartier’s earliest major successes was the Santos de Cartier watch — one of the world's first modern wristwatches for men. (Previously, a large number of people were using only pocket watches.) Louis designed the timepiece in 1904 for his friend, popular Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, who wanted to be able to check the time more easily while flying.

Cartier’s other famous timepieces include the Tank watch, which was inspired by the linear form of military tanks during World War I, and the so-called mystery clocks. Invented by watchmaker and magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin and later crafted exclusively for Cartier in the house’s workshop by watchmaker Maurice Couët, the mystery clocks were so named because the integration of glass dials on which the clocks’ hands would seemingly float as well as structures that are hidden away within the base give the illusion that they operate without machinery.

On the jewelry side of the business, Cartier’s internationally renowned offerings include the Tutti Frutti collection, which featured colorful carved gemstones inspired by Jacques’s trip to India and grew in popularity during the Art Deco years; the panthère motif, which has been incorporated into everything from brooches to rings; and the Love bracelet, a minimal, modernist locking bangle inspired by medieval chastity belts that transformed fine jewelry.

While the Cartier family sold the business following the death of Pierre in 1964, the brand continues to innovate today, renewing old hits and creating new masterpieces.

Find contemporary and vintage Cartier watches, engagement rings, necklaces and other accessories on 1stDibs.