and David Webb, honing his talent for crafting rich and innovative designs before finally landing at Cartier.Īs 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. After arriving in New York City, in 1959, he studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, then worked for Tiffany & Co. 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. 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. When he designed the Love bracelet, in 1969, Cipullo hadn't been working long for Cartier, where he was hired only a decade after arriving in the United States. Cipullo believed that the bond and commitment embodied in love deserved their own distinctive symbol. When Italian-born American jewelry designer Aldo Cipullo (1935–84) created the company’s signature bangle, he was inspired by chastity belts. Legend has it that New York City hospitals actually had to keep one of the special screwdrivers on hand for when patients needed it removed.If the robust locking mechanism and miniature screw heads that characterized Cartier’s Love bracelet when it first appeared conjured crude, medieval hardware, there’s a good reason. It has often been referred to as ‘modern love handcuffs,’ for that reason alone. Allegedly, at first the bracelets could only be purchased as a gift additionally having to surrender the screwdriver to one another. The screws that act as a defining detail to the bracelet are taken from similar screws on the bezel of Cartier’s Santos watch. In terms of design, the oval-shape of the bracelet is meant adhere closely to the body and can only be removed with the assistance of a special screwdriver that comes with the bracelet. After all, love symbols should suggest an everlasting quality,’ Cipullo said.

‘What modern people want are love symbols that look semi-permanent-or, at least, require a trick to remove. It quickly became one of the must-have items as a way to show the world that the one who wore it was ‘locked into love.’ The bracelet was controversially modeled after medieval chastity belts.

In 1969, Italian jewelry designer Aldo Cipullo created the Cartier Love bracelet in the New York workshops of the French luxury jewelry house.

Cartier love bracelet