Lab diamond tennis bracelets

How to choose a tennis bracelet

Three decisions, in this order: total carat weight, setting style, then length. Carat weight sets the price and the presence — the same design at 3ct and at 10ct is a different piece of jewellery. Setting style decides how it wears day to day. Length is the one that has to be right first time, because a tennis bracelet cannot be shortened without removing diamonds.

If this is an everyday bracelet, weight the decision towards bezel or channel setting and a slightly snugger fit. If it is for occasions, prongs and a looser drape will give you more light off the stones.

The settings we build

• Four-prong line. The original. Each diamond sits in its own four-prong basket, linked to the next so the row bends around the wrist. Prongs hold the stone high and leave the pavilion open, which is why a prong-set line throws more light than any other construction here.
• Bezel set. A metal rim wraps each stone. Nothing catches on knits or hair and nothing can snag a prong loose, so this is the one to wear daily and to sleep in. The trade-off is a slightly softer sparkle, because the rim covers the girdle.
• Channel set. Diamonds sit shoulder to shoulder between two walls of metal, with no prongs at all. The flattest and most protective option, and the most forgiving if the bracelet spends its life under a shirt cuff.
• Shared prong. Neighbouring stones share their prongs, so less metal shows between diamonds and the line reads as one continuous band of light. It buys the look of a heavier bracelet at the same carat weight.
• Graduated riviera. Stones step up in size towards the centre of the wrist. A riviera puts its weight where the bracelet is actually seen, so it looks substantially larger than a uniform line of the same total carat.
• Fancy and alternating cuts. Marquise, pear and baguette shapes, alone or alternating with rounds. Elongated cuts cover more wrist per carat than brilliants do, which is what gives the art-deco designs their width.

Getting the length right

Wrap a tape measure around the wrist just below the wrist bone, pull it snug, and add 1.5 cm for a close fit or 2 cm for a bracelet that moves. Standard lengths run 15 to 19 cm; 17 cm fits most adult wrists.

A tennis bracelet should rotate freely but not slide over the hand. Too loose and the line turns over on itself and shows you the gallery instead of the stones — the most common fit mistake, and the reason a bracelet bought a size up rarely gets worn.

Frequently asked questions

What is a tennis bracelet?

A flexible line of matched diamonds set end to end around the wrist, with no clasp feature interrupting the row. The name dates to the 1987 US Open, when Chris Evert stopped play to look for the diamond line bracelet that had come off mid-match — the style has been called a tennis bracelet ever since.

How much does a lab diamond tennis bracelet cost?

Our tennis bracelets start around the low four figures and run into five, and the spread is almost entirely total carat weight. A lab-grown diamond costs 60–80% less than a mined stone at the same grade, and because a tennis bracelet uses 20 to 60 stones rather than one, that saving compounds harder here than anywhere else in the collection.

What length tennis bracelet should I buy?

Measure the wrist snugly and add 1.5–2 cm. Standard lengths run 15 to 19 cm (roughly 6 to 7.5 inches); 17 cm is the most common. Every bracelet is made to order, so the length is set when you order rather than altered afterwards — a tennis bracelet cannot be shortened cleanly the way a chain can, because removing links removes diamonds.

Which metal should I choose?

Every design is made to order in 10K, 14K or 18K gold, sterling silver or platinum. White metals — white gold, platinum, silver — disappear against the diamonds and make the line read as pure stone. Yellow and rose gold outline each setting and make the bracelet read warmer and more visible. Platinum is the most durable of the five and the only one that will not need re-plating.

Are lab-grown diamonds real diamonds?

Yes. A lab-grown diamond is the same carbon lattice as a mined one — same hardness, same refractive index, same appearance under a loupe. It is graded on the same 4Cs scale by the same laboratories. The only difference is where it crystallised.

Will a tennis bracelet fall off?

The clasp is the whole answer. Ours use a box clasp with a figure-eight safety catch, so the catch has to fail as well as the clasp before the bracelet can come off. Have the clasp checked yearly, the same as you would a ring setting — that is the part that wears, not the line.