Authenticate Cartier Love Bracelet
Jewellery rather than a watch, and the maison's most counterfeited object.
Paris
The Love bracelet is fastened with screws that pass through the two halves of the bangle, and those screws are the read. On genuine pieces they are precisely threaded, turn smoothly with the maison's screwdriver, and seat flush with the surface. Counterfeit screws bind, sit proud, or turn in threads that were cast rather than cut.
Weight is the second read. The bracelet is solid gold and heavy for its size; a hollow or plated piece is immediately obvious in the hand and is confirmed by the hallmarks on the inner surface, which should be crisply engraved rather than laser-printed.
The oval screw motifs on the exterior are evenly spaced, uniformly oriented, and cut to the same depth all the way round. Uneven spacing or motifs at differing angles are casting failures.
Cartier boutiques will inspect a Love bracelet and decline to service one that is not genuine, which makes this one of the few pieces where a practical, obtainable second opinion exists.
What a Love Bracelet does on the secondary market
Holds value unusually well for jewellery, partly because the gold content sets a floor and partly because demand has been sustained. Original screws, the screwdriver and the box all add.
An orientation for honest, unrestored condition — never an appraisal, and never a quotation.
Questions we are asked
- How can I tell if a Cartier Love bracelet is real?
- Turn the screws. Genuine screws are precisely threaded, turn smoothly and seat flush; counterfeits bind or sit proud. Then check the weight — it is solid gold and heavy — and the hallmarks on the inner surface, which should be engraved rather than laser-printed.
Lovenhall WatchRead the watch itself
The checks tell you how it was made. The instrument tells you what it appears to be, and roughly what its kind fetches.