The Love Bracelet is Cartier’s signature jewelry design and arguably the most popular piece in Cartier’s vast collection.

The Love Bracelet’s distinctive design features perfectly spaced screws. This unique detail was inspired by the medieval chastity belt folklore and is meant to symbolize devotion and faithfulness. In turn, the Love Bracelet includes a screwdriver so only your significant other can “unlock” the bracelet.

While you may be very familiar with this iconic bracelet, you may be a little nervous when it comes to screwing it open and closed the first few times. Here’s a video tutorial to show you how to easily lock your Cartier Love Bracelet and the thinner new Cartier Love Bracelet, Small. Plus the video shows how to pull open and push closed your Cartier Juste un Clou!

How to Lock Closed Your Cartier Love Bracelet, Size Small
1.Put the two halves of your Cartier Love Bracelet, Small around your wrist.
2. With the provided Cartier Screwdriver, turn the screw at the closure one half turn counter-clockwise. Once the screw matches the other rivets, the bracelet is locked.

How to Lock Closed Your Cartier Love Bracelet
1. Put the two halves of your Cartier Love Bracelet around your wrist.
2. Use the provided Cartier Screwdriver to turn the screw the screw roughly two full turns clockwise.
3. The rivet of the locked screw does not need to match the other rivets in order to be locked.

How to Put On and Take Off Your Cartier Juste un Clou Bracelet
1. To wear your bracelet, simply snap the bracelet shut.
2. To remove your Juste un Clou, lightly press on the release mechanism on the underside of the bracelet to open it.

To learn more about how to spot a fake versus real Cartier Love bracelet, check out our post here.

One wouldn’t expect an iconic fashion statement to have roots in construction work, and yet, for over 40 years now, Cartier’s utilitarian-inspired accessories—namely, the Love and the Juste un Clou collections—have reigned supreme. Aldo Cipullo, the luxury brand’s jewelry designer, was the genius behind the simple, iconic pieces.

Cipullo was not just a jewelry designer; he was an avid observer of the world around him, and he was so inspired by life’s minute details that he channeled his creativity into some of the most popular jewelry collections in history.

The Cartier Juste un Clou bracelet, the iconic Love bracelet’s younger and easier-to-remove sister, was inspired by the humble nail. Released in 1971, the bracelet was steadily in line with Cipullo’s minimalist, androgynous style and the designer’s professed love for all things nuts, bolts and screws.

In 2012, to commemorate Cartier’s 165^th anniversary, the brand opened an exhibit at the Cartier Maison on Fifth Avenue. The focal point of the exhibit was Cipullo’s work, set against a backdrop of New York City in the 1970s. To add to the glamor of the evening, Cartier released an entire collection based on the Juste un Clou bracelet.

The new Juste un Clou collection was comprised of rings and bracelets shaped like gracefully bent nails, like the original, but with a modern twist. They were made available in rose, white, and yellow gold, and some models were outfitted with pavé diamonds set into the “head” of the nail.

2017 saw Cartier expand the incredibly successful original collection to include earrings, cufflinks and a torque necklace. The most recent iterations are available in rose, white, and yellow gold. Some designs are available with pavé diamonds studding the entire piece, as well. In addition to that, the bracelet line has been updated to include thicker designs and a winding wrap design.

To read up on the history of Juste un Clou’s sister collection, Cartier Love, click here. If you’re interested more about the history of the brand in general, we have some fun facts for you here.