How To Spot A Fake Cartier Love Bracelet? [GUIDE+VIDEO] (2024)

Designed in the 1960s by Aldo Cipullo, an Italian master jeweler, the Cartier Love Bracelet is an everlasting symbol of eternal love. This bracelet is one of the most iconic Cartier luxury pieces, featuring a distinctive design of a simple band adorned with screw motifs. The inspiration for the Cartier Love Bracelet was drawn from medieval chastity belts, objects that were used to signify the ultimate commitment to fidelity and devotion for a lover.

The signature particularity of a Cartier Love Bracelet is that it is secured onto the owner’s wrist with a screwdriver, an item provided by Cartier with the purchase of the bracelet. This detail emphasizes the idea of locking one person’s love for another. The Cartier Love Bracelet has been used by celebrities and royalty like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, cementing its status as a timeless classic piece of luxury jewelry.

Thanks to the Love Bracelet’s popularity and high demand, bootleggers try to make a quick buck by selling replicas of the piece. An authentic Cartier Love Bracelet is as expensive as any luxury jewelry item, making it inaccessible for non-wealthy individuals. This creates a black market where lovers may be willing to buy a bracelet that’s not as expensive but will still signify that they love each other. If you are reading this guide, we take for granted that you are not someone who would like to give your lover a replica of the Cartier Love Bracelet, you are interested in the real thing and would not like to be scammed by buying a fake one. Worry not, we will guide you through every detail and consideration you need to have in mind before making a risky purchase of this luxury piece.

Remember that buying, manufacturing, and selling bootlegged this or any other patented item is a felony and warrants jail time. Don’t risk your reputation to the potential legal consequences. Also, don’t try to deceive your lover about the bracelet being authentic, that is not the best way to start your love story.

When trying to determine if a Cartier Love Bracelet is fake or not, there are some pointers to keep in mind.

Hallmarks and Engravings

These elements function like a seal of authenticity on a Cartier Love Bracelet. The first Hallmark you should look for is the Cartier logo. Engraved on the surface of the bracelet by skilled artisans, the Cartier logo should look smooth and perfect, almost like the metal always had it and it wasn’t manufactured.

Next on the list are the purity hallmarks, indicating the quality of the materials used in the manufacturing of the bracelet. If you are shopping at a boutique or any other way that lets you handle the bracelet, look on its surface in search of a “750” engraved on it. This hallmark indicates the Love Bracelet is made of 18-karat gold. If you are looking at a Platinum Cartier Loce Bracelet, search for a “950” engraving, the universal indicator for luxury jewelry made of platinum. Of course, this needs to be tested by you or an expert, as bootleggers may have the technology to do the engraving but not the resources to use expensive materials for the development of their replicas.

You may also look for a serial number engraved on the bracelet. Specifically, if the bracelet was made after the 1970s, it has to have a serial number. Before this period, the Cartier Love Bracelet did not include Hallmarks of any kind, including serial numbers. A bootlegger who is aware of this can tell you that the bracelet is from before the 70s and that’s why it doesn’t have any engravings on the surface. This is why we advise you to be more wary when trying to buy one of these classic models, if it is not for sale at an auction house or comes from a certified, reputable retailer, it may be best to not buy it. Buying a modern Cartier Love Bracelet would be safer due to the Hallmarks’ capacity to indicate the piece is real.

If the Cartier Love Bracelet you plan on buying has Hallmarks, it should look perfectly engraved, without any dents or inconsistent lettering. In this picture, you can see what a real Cartier Love Bracelet looks like when compared to a replica. The Cartier logo on the fake one on the left looks smudged and it has an “18kt” engraving instead of the authentic “750” one. The overall look of the fake engravings looks unprofessional, this alone should tell you, even at a glance, that you are dealing with a replica trying to be sold by a bootlegger. If you spot these sloppy Hallmarks, stop communications with the seller immediately to secure your finances and avoid being scammed.

During the process of making counterfeit engravings, the bootleggers, who are not skilled jewelers by any means, may even damage the piece. Look at this platinum Cartier Love Bracelet. The fake one has degradation on the surface, while an authentic piece would never degrade over time or in the manufacturing process.

Here is another example. A 6-Diamond White Gold Cartier Love Bracelet. The fake one on the left has a fake stamp, which looks different from the authentic one. The font doesn’t match, the spelling is sloppy, and it doesn’t have the official Cartier cursive font.

Inconsistencies between replicas, even from the same bootlegger are common, in this picture, you can appreciate how the lettering of the bootlegged “750” engraving does not match the official lettering and doesn’t even match the lettering on other replicas.

Weight

An authentic Cartier Love Bracelet will have a particular weight to it that you have to be able to feel just by holding the bracelet in one hand. Replicas manufactured with cheap materials will feel lighter when compared to authentic bracelets. First of all, you should keep in mind that the Cartier Love Bracelet can be personalized by commission, so if you are buying a second-hand piece, it is normal that the size of it may vary, this does not indicate a fake piece. The size of the bracelet can influence its weight, but not by a huge margin, so you still be able to spot a replica by holding it. A regular Cartier Love Bracelet should not weigh less than 32 grams, while a small Cartier Loce Bracelet should not weigh less than 20 grams.

Remember that beyond the visual appeal of a luxury item such as the Cartier Love Bracelet, the experience of wearing one includes being comfortable doing so. If the materials used to develop a replica don’t feel right when wearing it, being that it weighs too much or too little, then it is not an authentic piece. The Cartier Love Bracelet is meant to be worn at all times, taking it off requires equipment, so being comfortable while wearing it is one of its main selling points.

Materials

Spotting fake materials on a Cartier Love Bracelet may require attention to detail, even the aid of a magnifying glass to inspect the piece. If you are knowledgeable about materials used in the manufacturing of luxury jewelry, you will be able to discard most replicas just by looking at them. But if this is the first time you are thinking about buying an expensive piece like the Cartier Love Bracelet, you may need the help of an expert or run some tests before determining if the piece is authentic.

You need to familiarize yourself with the materials a Cartier Love Bracelet can be made of. Officially, the bracelets available to the general public are 18kgold, diamonds, rose gold, and platinum. The gold ones are the most common bracelets, so more replicas of them are running in the black market. If you are able, feel the surface of the bracelet to be sure it doesn’t have any inconsistencies, real Cartier Love bracelets have smooth surfaces without texture other than the holes where the screws are located.

Keep in mind that real gold and platinum have distinct colors that should be evident when you know what they look like. 18k gold should have a rich, warm hue, whale platinum has a bright, white color. If the coloring is too shiny, dull, or seems off in any capacity, it is a sign that the materials don’t match the quality Cartier is known for.

Screws

One of the signature elements of a Cartier Love Bracelet is the crews that are used to secure the piece to the owner’s wrist. This will make it harder to take it off, but that’s the point of the bracelet: to signify something everlasting. This is where most bootleggers, even the most skilled ones, will mess up the design of their replicas.

Real Cartier Love bracelets are very precise and the screws are perfectly stamped into the metal. The screw stamps on replicas are not properly aligned, are uneven, and do not have a smooth surface. In the example below, the screw overlaps with the line where the bracelet fully circles, something that would never happen with an authentic piece.

The screws of an authentic Cartier Love Bracelet can only be removed by a specific screwdriver provided by Cartier with the purchase, if they can come off by hand, can be taken off by a regular screwdriver or feel loose, the piece is a replica. The screwdriver has a particular design that only works for removing the bracelet screws and won’t fit on anything else. If you ask the seller if you can remove the screws and he doesn’t recoil when you try to do it with anything other than the official screwdriver, that means he isn’t aware that doing something like that can permanently damage an authentic piece.

Each screw is carefully integrated into the bracelet’s design, blending them with the material to create a harmonious and visually appealing composition. Replicas, on the other hand, have screws that are poorly executed or lack the precision of genuine Cartier craftsmanship.

The purpose of the screws has remained the same over time, but its design has received some variations to adapt the piece to modern times and technologies. In some classic Love bracelet designs, the screw may appear plain, as their first design prioritized its functionality rather than its aesthetics. Modern designs can include screws made of gold, diamonds, gemstones, titanium, or ceramic. The most popular screws are the gold ones, so most bootleggers go for this design. Be aware that modern Cartier Love Bracelet screws should look like the ones on the right in this picture.

Take a look at how the screws on the following replicas on the left of this picture overlap with the other side of the bracelet. The authentic piece’s screws seem way more well-made and elegant, occupying the right space with the right distribution.

What Is the Price of an Authentic Cartier Love Bracelet?

The price at which the Cartier Love Bracelet is being sold can play a huge role when determining if the piece is authentic. First of all, Cartier is a luxury brand, their pieces, including the Love bracelet, are expensive. Non-wealthy individuals may never be able to afford a Cartier piece in their lifetime.

The prestige and exquisite craftsmanship of Cartier allow the brand to charge thousands of dollars for a single jewelry piece. A brand new Cartier Love Bracelet can be sold at around 6,500 USD. Keep in mind that Cartier pieces don’t lose value over time, so even if you are buying second-hand, it is highly unlikely that an authentic Cartier Love Bracelet will sell for any lower than that amount.

There is only one exception to this rule: the Charles Revson Love Bracelet, a variation of the Love bracelet commercialized during the 70s. If someone claims the bracelet they are selling is a Charles Revson, it should have the name “Charles Revson” engraved on the back. This model was less expensive than the regular one, making it more accessible to buy, as it was a collaboration with the cosmetics brand Revlon. The model is out of production, so it may only be purchased at a certified auction house or an antique dealer.