A tennis bracelet is a flexible line of stones, traditionally small, identical diamonds, each set in its own link so the bracelet bends with your wrist and sparkles all the way around. Most close with a box clasp. The name traces back to Chris Evert, whose bracelet broke during a US Open match.
So the most famous tennis bracelet in history is famous for coming undone. We think that's the most useful thing to know before you buy one. The stones get the attention. The fit and the clasp decide whether you'll wear it every day.
Why is it called a tennis bracelet?
Because Chris Evert dropped hers on court mid-match, and when reporters asked what she was looking for, she called it her tennis bracelet. In her words to Tennis.com in 2022: "The clasp had broken so the press asked me what I was looking for, and I told them it was my tennis bracelet."
Most retellings put that moment at the 1987 US Open. Evert remembers it as 1978, the year the Open moved to Flushing Meadows, which is what her publicist told The Adventurine in 2018. Mental Floss points out that 1987 is a single typo away.
The name took longer than one match to catch on. According to Mental Floss, "tennis bracelet" only started appearing in newspapers in the mid-1980s, and by July 1987, weeks before that year's Open, The New York Times was already explaining the term. Before then, jewelers sold the same style as a diamond line bracelet or an eternity bracelet. Evert gave it a name, and the 1980s made it a staple.
How should a tennis bracelet fit?
Close enough that it can't slide over your hand, loose enough to slip one finger underneath and let it turn a little.
Look up a size chart and you'll find answers about an inch apart. One big jeweler pairs a 6.5-inch wrist with a 6.5-inch bracelet. Another tells you to add half an inch to an inch, which puts the same wrist in a 7 to 7.5-inch bracelet.
Both work, because they measure differently. The first has you hold the tape loose enough to rotate, so the extra room is already in your number. The second measures the wrist itself and adds the room afterward. Use one guide's tape with the other's chart and you can end up an inch off.
Our way: measure snug, then add. Wrap a soft tape or a strip of paper just below your wrist bone, flat against the skin, and read the number. Add 1.5 to 2.5 cm (about half an inch to an inch), less for a close fit, more for drape. Lean roomy for a wide line. Stones have depth, so a thick bracelet has less space inside the circle than its flat length suggests.
Our tennis bracelets come in 17 cm (about 6.7 inches) and 19 cm (about 7.5 inches). Here's where your wrist lands:
| Your wrist, measured snug | Choose | Room you'll have | How it wears |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14.5 to 15.5 cm (5.7 to 6.1 in.) | 17 cm | 1.5 to 2.5 cm | Classic: turns a little, stays off your hand |
| 15.5 to 16 cm (6.1 to 6.3 in.) | 17 cm | 1 to 1.5 cm | Close: sits flat and barely moves |
| 16 to 17 cm (6.3 to 6.7 in.) | 19 cm | 2 to 3 cm | Relaxed: drapes toward your hand |
| 17 to 18 cm (6.7 to 7.1 in.) | 19 cm | 1 to 2 cm | Classic to close |
Below 14.5 cm, the 17 cm wears loose. Above 18 cm, both lengths run tight. On the line between rows, take the longer length. And if you guess wrong, size exchanges are free within 30 days of delivery, tag still on (return policy).
Width matters too. The new Gold Spike Tennis Bracelet, $119, is a hand-linked line of 2.5mm square crystals, each framed by small gold spikes, 6.2mm across. A line that wide takes up more room inside the circle than a slim one, so measure before you choose.
How to put on a tennis bracelet by yourself
You need a table, and a small piece of tape if you'd like a third hand.
1. Open it all the way. Flip open the safety latches first, then press the tab and slide the tongue out of the box.
2. Rest your forearm on the table, palm up, and lay the bracelet across the inside of your wrist.
3. Anchor the box end. Stick it to the inside of your wrist with a small piece of tape.
4. Bring the tongue around under your wrist and up to meet the box. Press it in until it locks.
5. Close the latches over the clasp until they catch.
6. Check it. Tug gently on both sides of the clasp and peel off the tape. The clasp is already where it wears best, on the inside of your wrist, with the stones on top.
To take it off, start with the latches.
Ours close with a box clasp backed by fold-over safety latches. On the Spike and on the Gold Star Bezel, the box itself is set with a crystal, so the sparkle carries on through the clasp.
Can you wear a tennis bracelet every day?
Yes, if it's well made and it fits. Look for stones held by metal in their own settings, links that move freely and a clasp with a backup latch.
The stones get the attention. The fit and the clasp decide whether you'll wear it every day.
Ours are hand-linked, with every crystal set by hand, finished in 18k gold, rhodium or Black Gold over sustainable brass. Each one comes with our two-year warranty.
The Gold Star Bezel Tennis Bracelet, $99, is the everyday one we'd hand you first: crystal stars, each wrapped in a smooth gold frame, alternating with round crystals. That frame is a bezel, and its smooth edges are less likely to catch on a sweater (GIA). It comes in silver too, and the Silver Heart Bezel Tennis Bracelet, $99, sets crystal hearts the same way.
“I love this piece. I wear it everyday and get lots of compliments”
If you wear Black Gold, the Heart Tennis Bracelet in Black Gold, $109, frames color-shifting mystic topaz crystal hearts in dark metal. Wear it on its own, or with the rest of your Black Gold.
Put it on after lotion and perfume, and take it off for bed and the gym. (Ask Chris Evert about that last one.)
The one that stays on
Pick the stones you love. Then measure snug, add your room and check the latches before you leave the house.
Evert's bracelet made history by falling off. Yours only has to stay on.
Shop the story
Gold Spike Tennis Bracelet
Gold Star Bezel Tennis Bracelet
Silver Star Bezel Tennis Bracelet
Heart Tennis Bracelet - Black GoldQuestions about tennis bracelets
What size tennis bracelet is best for a 6-inch wrist?
A 6-inch wrist is about 15.2 cm. Our 17 cm length (about 6.7 inches) leaves roughly 1.8 cm, or 0.7 inch, of room: a classic fit that turns a little without sliding over your hand.
What's the difference between a tennis bracelet and a bangle?
A tennis bracelet is flexible: a line of linked, individually set stones that closes with a clasp. A bangle is rigid and either slides over your hand or opens on a hinge.
Are tennis bracelets real diamonds?
The classic version uses diamonds. Oomiay's tennis bracelets are set by hand with 5A grade Oomiay cubic zirconia crystals, plus Oomiay glass crystals in some colored styles.
What kind of clasp does a tennis bracelet have?
Most use a box clasp: a tongue that slides into a box and locks, often backed by a fold-over safety latch. Oomiay's tennis bracelets use a box clasp with safety latches.
When did tennis bracelets become popular?
In the mid-1980s, when the name started appearing in newspapers, according to Mental Floss. The style existed before that as the diamond line or eternity bracelet, and Chris Evert dates her famous broken clasp to the 1978 US Open.
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