Cartier small love bracelet (paved) or diamond tennis bracelet

[tenshix]

Thank you so much!! We're very excited, but also really nervous!

I will try to see if we can go take a look in person, but we live in Colorado, and unfortunately, there isn't a Cartier store here. It would be so nice to be able to see things up close though.

That's a good point about the sizing, I didn't even think of that!! I took off my love bracelet over the summer for a trip and never put it back on... I have noticed swelling and weight gain, so that's something to factor in. I'm really hoping I will get back to my usual size post-baby.

Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate them all and it's given me a lot to think about

Congrats on your baby and how sweet and thoughtful of your DH!

Just wanted to chime in here and say that in my opinion the small pavé Love isn’t that much of a statement piece compared to a 10-12 carat tennis bracelet. The small pavé Love is indeed very sparkly but the diamonds are small so to me they are more understated kind of sparkle and actually very wearable as a casual person myself. I find it much less fussy and it will not catch on clothing or things compared to a tennis bracelet. It’s also very light and I always forget it’s on when I’m wearing it alone if I’m not stacking, it’s very comfortable for daily wear. Given the pavé setting it also won’t scratch your baby.

The 10-12 carat tennis bracelet will sit taller on your wrist and the prongs or safety catch might have the tendency to catch on things or scratch your baby if you’re wearing it all the time. However I do agree a tennis bracelet is absolutely a classic piece and it will be a stunning statement piece at that carat weight.

Perhaps you can try to prioritize what you consider most important here. If you don’t mind having a wow-statement piece that you won’t wear as often being a busy mom the tennis bracelet is gorgeous and will catch all eyes for sure. If what you’re looking for is a daily piece you can wear to commemorate your baby’s birth I find the small pavé Love is excellent for that. Definitely go for what your heart wants because if you think you’ll want the pavé Love down the line might as well get it now before the prices keep increasing!

 

[raineychico]

It’s also very light and I always forget it’s on when I’m wearing it alone if I’m not stacking, it’s very comfortable for daily wear. Given the pavé setting it also won’t scratch your baby.

Hi, thank you so much for your reply! If you don't mind my asking, which color pave bracelet do you have? I haven't seen any in person and am curious what you think about the different golds and which one you ultimately went with.

I'm leaning towards the small pave love bracelet because I want to wear it every day. The tennis bracelet would be beautiful as well, but I'm thinking that I wouldn't wear it nearly as much.

 

[hers4eva]

Diamond tennis bracelet

 

[tenshix]

Hi, thank you so much for your reply! If you don't mind my asking, which color pave bracelet do you have? I haven't seen any in person and am curious what you think about the different golds and which one you ultimately went with.

I'm leaning towards the small pave love bracelet because I want to wear it every day. The tennis bracelet would be beautiful as well, but I'm thinking that I wouldn't wear it nearly as much.

I went with RG because that’s my primary stack, in retrospect I should’ve tried on YG and WG for fun as well but I already knew in my heart I wanted RG to match the rest of my daily stack and didn’t want to be swayed. I get what you mean about the WG not catching your eye as much, because the diamonds blend in with the metal more in WG, but if you would be stacking it with your existing WG Love I think it would look gorgeous and totally complementary to each other!

If you’re wanting to wear this push present every day my vote for you is absolutely the small pavé Love for the symbolism (you can engrave baby’s birthday/name inside) and because of how unfussy it is compared to a thick tennis bracelet. It’s just the right amount of sparkle without being too flashy for daily wear IMO.

If you plan to stack with your existing Love I would recommend asking Cartier to give your existing one a polish & rhodium plating so it would match your WG pavé Love if you’re going that route, otherwise the color difference may bother you since the plain WG is not rhodium plated (looks more warm grey). I had mine rhodium plated after some years of wear because I didn’t like the patina of the non-plated white gold. Some people also mix metals in their stack if that’s what you like to do so if your heart is set on YG it’s still beautiful too!

Let me take some photos for you in a bit together with my WG Love maybe it can help you visualize a bit if you plan to stack together.

 

[tenshix]

Hi, thank you so much for your reply! If you don't mind my asking, which color pave bracelet do you have? I haven't seen any in person and am curious what you think about the different golds and which one you ultimately went with.

I'm leaning towards the small pave love bracelet because I want to wear it every day. The tennis bracelet would be beautiful as well, but I'm thinking that I wouldn't wear it nearly as much.

Ok here it is, my every day core bangle stack right now is the RG 4 dia Love + RG sm pavé Love. And usually I’ll add on to it according to my mood, but most of my bangle pieces are in RG across brands. I got the WG Love to break up the look of an RG stack but didn’t love the warm patina over the years so I recently had them polished and rhodium plated and like it plated so much more. My favorite way to wear the WG is to sandwich it between two regular Loves and I feel a bit like Wonder Woman, haha. On some occasions I would also stack with my 10 or 15 pointer tennis or other diamond bangles but I find them too blingy for every day wear and get annoyed that they catch on things often. I don’t mind mixing metals in all the jewelry I wear so I don’t find mixing to be an issue, but if you feel like you’re more of a purist and mostly wear white metals, I think the WG small pavé would be gorgeous alone or stacked with your WG Love.

They’re just so easy to wear and can take more of a beating compared to a tennis bracelet which always catches on clothing and I worry about them falling off because the latch came loose for me before when I tried to wear my tennis daily for a few months. So I wear them sparingly now, but that’s just my personal experience so YMMV.

 

[jc1322]

I think the sm pave love is stunning! I was able to try it on today and I’m obsessed. But you’d also be able to get a VERY nice tennis bracelet with that kind of money….

 

[raineychico]

They’re just so easy to wear and can take more of a beating compared to a tennis bracelet which always catches on clothing and I worry about them falling off because the latch came loose for me before when I tried to wear my tennis daily for a few months. So I wear them sparingly now, but that’s just my personal experience so YMMV.

Thanks for your quick responses and for the photos! Your stack is absolutely gorgeous!! The small pave is stunning, and it's really helpful to hear your thoughts on how the TB and the love wear daily since you have both. Catching on clothing would likely get on my nerves and make me not want to wear the TB as often. I also worry about losing the TB since it's not screwed on, but I know I could always add a safety catch. I agree with you about the love of having the right amount of sparkle for everyday wear. It's just so eye-catching.

I will look into getting my current WG a polish and rhodium plating. I got it back in 2018 and wore it 24/7 up until this summer, so it's definitely due.

You're so helpful, and I'm pretty much convinced that the small pave love is the best choice for me. Thank you again for taking the time out to tell me your thoughts and show me pictures! I appreciate it so much!

 

[raineychico]

I think the sm pave love is stunning! I was able to try it on today and I’m obsessed. But you’d also be able to get a VERY nice tennis bracelet with that kind of money….

Wow! That's the YG? It's so sparkly and your stack is so pretty!! The TB would be beautiful as well... I've never really had nice jewelry before so this is hard for me to decide. I keep going back to the love though, I've been obsessed with it since 2012 haha.

 

[tenshix]

Thanks for your quick responses and for the photos! Your stack is absolutely gorgeous!! The small pave is stunning, and it's really helpful to hear your thoughts on how the TB and the love wear daily since you have both. Catching on clothing would likely get on my nerves and make me not want to wear the TB as often. I also worry about losing the TB since it's not screwed on, but I know I could always add a safety catch. I agree with you about the love of having the right amount of sparkle for everyday wear. It's just so eye-catching.

I will look into getting my current WG a polish and rhodium plating. I got it back in 2018 and wore it 24/7 up until this summer, so it's definitely due.

You're so helpful, and I'm pretty much convinced that the small pave love is the best choice for me. Thank you again for taking the time out to tell me your thoughts and show me pictures! I appreciate it so much!

I’m so glad it helped you! For me personally I think the safety catch detracts from the look of the tennis bracelet because I prefer a cleaner look but it is more safe to have one if you don’t mind the look. I really thought I would be able to wear mine every day but in the end found it too blingy and a bit fussy for my personal lifestyle right now.

If you run into any trouble at the boutique with the SA telling you that you’re not allowed to rhodium plate plain/non-diamond WG they’re wrong and it’s a weird policy the boutique does. You can call in to customer service and get the service pre-approved also, and then bring it to the boutique for the polish and plating (otherwise you have to pay for shipping and insurance yourself if you send directly to their workshop, but do whatever is more convenient for you).

It sounds like you’ve always had your heart on the pave Love so I say go for it!! I think even if you got the tennis bracelet you’ll always be thinking about the Love (at least I did), so if you’re going to get it down the line anyhow then this is the perfect timing to get one for it to have special meaning and occasion. Please let us know which one you end up deciding on! I’m sure it’ll be gorgeous on you either way.

 

[raineychico]

I’m so glad it helped you! For me personally I think the safety catch detracts from the look of the tennis bracelet because I prefer a cleaner look but it is more safe to have one if you don’t mind the look. I really thought I would be able to wear mine every day but in the end found it too blingy and a bit fussy for my personal lifestyle right now.

If you run into any trouble at the boutique with the SA telling you that you’re not allowed to rhodium plate plain/non-diamond WG they’re wrong and it’s a weird policy the boutique does. You can call in to customer service and get the service pre-approved also, and then bring it to the boutique for the polish and plating (otherwise you have to pay for shipping and insurance yourself if you send directly to their workshop, but do whatever is more convenient for you).

It sounds like you’ve always had your heart on the pave Love so I say go for it!! I think even if you got the tennis bracelet you’ll always be thinking about the Love (at least I did), so if you’re going to get it down the line anyhow then this is the perfect timing to get one for it to have special meaning and occasion. Please let us know which one you end up deciding on! I’m sure it’ll be gorgeous on you either way.

I prefer cleaner looks with minimal fuss, so I decided on the small pave love bracelet! I always go back to the love collection, and I think I'll end up getting significantly more wear out of the love bracelet than a TB. Thanks again for your help! Being able to talk it out made me sure of my decision.

That's good to know! I'll set that up soon so that my classic WG will be polished and ready when the small pave arrives

 

[raineychico]

Tennis bracelet! Let us know what you decide.

I decided on the small pave love bracelet! Tennis bracelets are beautiful, but I think I will be able to wear and enjoy the love bracelet more! Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[tenshix]

I prefer cleaner looks with minimal fuss, so I decided on the small pave love bracelet! I always go back to the love collection, and I think I'll end up getting significantly more wear out of the love bracelet than a TB. Thanks again for your help! Being able to talk it out made me sure of my decision.

That's good to know! I'll set that up soon so that my classic WG will be polished and ready when the small pave arrives

Yay!! Do update us here or on the Cartier pavé thread once you’re united with your new stack, I bet it’ll be beautiful on you!

 

[jc1322]

Wow! That's the YG? It's so sparkly and your stack is so pretty!! The TB would be beautiful as well... I've never really had nice jewelry before so this is hard for me to decide. I keep going back to the love though, I've been obsessed with it since 2012 haha.

the love I’m wearing is in pink gold! I think it looks better on me than the yellow but you should try both. I think you should go with the love too since you’ve been thinking about it for so long. Don’t settle and buy what you really want!

 

[GucciGoneWild]

Please update us on your stack!! I love both the small Love pace and I love a good TB haha. I would also choose the Love pave! It’s a dream piece for me and would look amazing next to your Loves.

 

[tutu2008]

Ok here it is, my every day core bangle stack right now is the RG 4 dia Love + RG sm pavé Love. And usually I’ll add on to it according to my mood, but most of my bangle pieces are in RG across brands. I got the WG Love to break up the look of an RG stack but didn’t love the warm patina over the years so I recently had them polished and rhodium plated and like it plated so much more. My favorite way to wear the WG is to sandwich it between two regular Loves and I feel a bit like Wonder Woman, haha. On some occasions I would also stack with my 10 or 15 pointer tennis or other diamond bangles but I find them too blingy for every day wear and get annoyed that they catch on things often. I don’t mind mixing metals in all the jewelry I wear so I don’t find mixing to be an issue, but if you feel like you’re more of a purist and mostly wear white metals, I think the WG small pavé would be gorgeous alone or stacked with your WG Love.

They’re just so easy to wear and can take more of a beating compared to a tennis bracelet which always catches on clothing and I worry about them falling off because the latch came loose for me before when I tried to wear my tennis daily for a few months. So I wear them sparingly now, but that’s just my personal experience so YMMV.

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Your post with your pictures were so helpful to me too! This was so perfect, thank you! (I myself am looking to add a small pave to my regular). You are so right about the tennis bracelet catching on clothing and not being so every day the way this small pave is. I have a 3 tcw tennis bracelet and that's at most an every day tennis for me. With a newborn baby, I would much prefer the smoothness and carefree style of the pave love over the heftiness of a 12+ pointer tennis.
OP - please do share a photo of your new stack once acquired. And early congrats on both the presents and your baby!