Real vs Fake Cartier Love Bracelet: How to Spot a Fake

Real vs Fake Cartier Love Bracelet: How to Tell If Yours Is Real

How to identify a fake Cartier Love bracelet: skip the screw motifs on the outside, because a fake copies them well, and read the inside of the band. On the genuine bracelets in this guide, the small letters of the Cartier logo are cut in narrow strokes that leave the a wide open, and the gold stamp reads Au 750 with a full space. Then check that the closure, the serial number and the size stamp all belong to the same bracelet and the same era.

The fake vs real Cartier Love bracelet question comes down to engravings and consistency, not looks. Seen from outside, a fake Cartier Love bracelet vs real one is close to identical, so every Cartier Love bracelet real vs fake check below starts inside the band, and it shows how to authenticate Cartier Love bracelet photos before you pay. Cartier says the Love bracelet was created in New York in 1969 by the designer Aldo Cipullo. Today the classic model is 6.1 mm wide in 18K gold, marked 750/1000, and the yellow gold classic, ref. B6067517, lists at $7,950 on Cartier's US site (US retail as of November 2026). It comes in sizes 15 to 22 and ships with a screwdriver. Cartier also sells medium and small models, and the plain yellow gold small model, ref. B6079117, lists at $5,300. Current Love bracelets come in yellow, white and rose gold.

How the Love Bracelet Differs From Other Cartier Bracelets

This page covers the Love bangle only: its screw closure, its screwdriver, its engraved serial and its sizes. For any other Cartier bracelet, start with our general real vs fake Cartier bracelet guide. The nail-shaped Juste un Clou has no screws and no screwdriver, and its own checks are in our Juste un Clou bracelet guide. The Love ring shares the screw motif but not the closure, see our Cartier Love ring guide. Another bracelet copied just as often is covered in our Van Cleef Sweet Alhambra bracelet guide. Tiffany's solid bangle with a padlock-shaped bar has its own checks, in our Tiffany Lock bracelet real vs fake guide. Some Cartier Baignoire watches sit on a bangle too, and their hallmarks are covered in our Cartier Baignoire real vs fake guide.

Why the Cartier Love Bracelet Is Heavily Counterfeited

A bracelet that retails near $8,000 and looks almost the same on every wrist is an easy target. The hero image shows how close a copy gets from outside, and listing photos usually show that outer face first.

Jewelry is the most valuable category of counterfeit goods stopped at the US border. In the US Customs and Border Protection fiscal year 2024 seizure statistics, jewelry ranked first by retail value, at $1,654,738,737, with 713,036 items seized.

The photos come from several confirmed authentic and counterfeit bracelets, so each card is its own pair. The fake on the screw housing card is white metal, the others yellow. I describe what separates each pair, not a rule that every fake breaks.

Inside Cartier Logo Engraving

Both bracelets carry the script Cartier logo and a copyright symbol inside the band, and the letter shapes are close. The difference on this pair is weight. The counterfeit's small letters are cut so heavy for their size that the hole inside the a closes to a narrow slit, about a fifth of the letter's width. On the genuine bracelet the a stays open, at about half its width.

• The capital C and the copyright symbol are not the tell. Scaled the same way, the thick stroke of the C and the ring of the copyright symbol come out about as wide on both bracelets.
• Dark or bright grooves mean nothing. The counterfeit grooves photograph dark and grainy, the genuine ones show their walls as fine lines. That is light and finish, and the genuine close-ups are too soft to judge a groove floor.
• Compare like with like. Engravings can differ between production periods, so judge a bracelet against a confirmed genuine one of the same era.

Shoot the inside of the band in daylight with the phone held square to the logo, then zoom on the a and the r. Compare stroke width with letter height in one photo, never across two photos taken at different distances.

Closure System and Era

The closure is a dating check. Older Love bracelets used screws that come out completely. Later production keeps the screws attached to the bracelet when it opens. Cartier now also sells a classic model with a hinge and one functional screw, so it can be put on alone. A genuine bracelet's closure fits the age it is sold as.

• Two removable screws. The original system. Fashionphile notes these screws come completely out when the bangle is removed.
• Two captive screws. From the early 2010s, the screws stay attached when the bracelet is opened. A recent bracelet whose screws fall out deserves a closer look.
• Hinge plus one screw. Cartier's current single-screw closure listing, ref. B6081817, says that with "a hinge and a single functional screw, it can now be put on or taken off alone". The earliest archived copy of a Cartier page for this closure dates from February 2025, so a hinged classic is not a fake sign, but it cannot be decades old.
• Small model. Fashionphile describes the thinner small Love with one screw and a hinge, so a hinge dates nothing on a small model. This era logic applies to the classic width.

Ask the seller for a short video of the bracelet being opened, showing both ends, so you can see whether the screws come out or stay attached.

Au 750 Gold Stamp

The 750 mark means 18K gold, 750 parts per thousand, and Cartier lists the Love in 18K gold marked 750/1000. On this pair, the genuine bracelet reads Au 750 with a gap about as wide as the letter u. The fake reads Au750, with the top of the 7 almost touching the u.

• Spacing. The authentic stamp separates the element symbol from the number. The counterfeit crowds them into one block. Cartier publishes no spacing rule, so treat this as one pair, not a standard.
• Early pieces differ. A circa 1970 Love signed by Aldo Cipullo and sold by Woolley and Wallis is stamped 18K, not 750. A vintage bracelet without Au 750 is not a fake on that alone.
• Stroke weight. The counterfeit looks bolder because its grooves photograph dark. Scaled to the same letter height, the stems of the u are about as thick on both, so weight is not the tell here.
• The number alone proves nothing. Fakes are stamped 750 too, and a gold-plated fake can carry the right number. Read how it is cut and spaced.

Photograph the stamp straight on with the light coming from the side, so the grooves read as lines rather than glare. Keep the whole stamp in one frame to judge spacing.

Screw Housing at the Opening

This card shows the screw housing at one end of the opening. On the genuine bracelet, the round collar around the screw sits wholly inside a rectangular recess, with a thin band of flat metal showing on both sides and below it. On the fake, the collar's rim runs past the left edge of the recess, and no lower edge of the recess shows beneath it.

• Seating. The authentic collar keeps a margin on every side. The counterfeit collar is off center and overhangs the left edge. The genuine photo is taken at an angle, so I judge only whether the collar fits its recess, not exact widths.
• Same closure only. Cartier changed the screw system in the early 2010s, so compare a housing with a genuine bracelet that has the same closure.
• Metal color is a variant. The genuine bracelet is yellow gold and the fake is white metal. Cartier makes the Love in white gold too, so color says nothing here.

Open the bracelet and photograph each screw housing from straight above. An angled shot changes how wide the recess looks, so only judge the collar against its own recess.

Serial Number Shape and Placement

A Cartier Love bracelet serial number is engraved inside the band, which also carries the logo, the gold mark and the size. Many catalogued examples follow one of three shapes: one letter and five digits, two letters and four digits, or three letters and three digits, such as H22171 and HVQ403 at Sotheby's. Cartier publishes no format, so an unusual shape is a question for the seller, and no source reads a year from it.

• Shape. A Cartier Love bracelet serial number check starts with the three shapes listed in 1stDibs' Love bracelet guide. They match auction records, including a Sotheby's lot numbered H22171. The list is a reseller's, not Cartier's.
• Engraving. The serial should be cut the same way as the logo next to it. A serial in a different depth or style from the logo is a mismatch.
• Copies. Fakes copy real serials. Search the number online, and if it shows up on other listings with different photos, treat it as a red flag.
• Stolen check. Cartier pieces with a serial can be registered free on Richemont's Enquirus database, which buyers can use to check whether a piece was reported stolen. It does not authenticate.

Our Cartier serial number checker reads which shape you have. For jewelry it gives no production year, because no published source decodes one.

Photograph the serial and the logo in one frame so the two engravings can be compared directly, then type the number into a search engine.

Size Stamp and Oval Shape

Cartier sizes the Love in centimeters, from 15 to 22 on its current US listing, and the size number is engraved inside the band. Cartier tells buyers to measure the wrist and add one centimeter for a tight fit or two for a looser one, so the number tracks the length around the inside, not a diameter. Cartier also calls the Love an oval bracelet.

• Units. The size is in centimeters, not inches. Some guides call it a diameter in inches, which does not fit Cartier's own size list.
• Fit check. Measure the inside length around the closed bracelet with a strip of paper. Resellers treat the size as the inner circumference, so a size 17 should come out at roughly 17 cm. A large gap between the two is worth asking about.
• Shape. Seen from above, a genuine Love is an oval, not a circle. A perfectly round band deserves a closer look at everything else.

Lay the closed bracelet flat on a sheet of paper, photograph it from straight above, and photograph the size engraving next to a ruler.

Red Flags That End the Inspection

The strongest single sign in these photos is an inside logo whose small letters are cut so heavy that the a closes to a slit. A closure that does not fit the claimed age is the next reason to walk away. The stamp spacing and the serial shape are supporting evidence, and each should be read against a genuine bracelet of the same era.

• Heavy logo letters. On this pair the weight of the small letters separates the two at a glance, even though the letter shapes match.
• A closure from the wrong era. A hinged classic sold as vintage, or a recent bracelet whose screws drop out, does not add up.
• A serial seen elsewhere. The same number on several listings points to a copied serial.
• No inside photos. A seller who shows only the outer screws is showing the part fakes copy best.
• A price far under gold value. A Love at a fraction of its retail price, with no receipt, needs proof before payment.

What Current Superfakes Get Right

The better fakes copy the outside well. The oval outline, the band width, the screw motifs and the script logo shape are all close, as the hero image shows. The fakes in these cards are stamped 750, and a fake can carry a serial in a valid shape copied from a real bracelet. It can also arrive with a box and a screwdriver.

What still separates them in these photos is the weight and spacing of the inside engravings, and how the screw collar sits in its recess. Those are tooling details.

What You Can Check Yourself and What You Cannot

You can check the closure type, the serial shape, the size number, the oval outline and whether the serial appears elsewhere with nothing more than a phone and a strip of paper. Reading the engravings is harder. Judging letter weight and spacing needs sharp close-ups and a confirmed genuine bracelet of the same era to compare against. Cartier itself states it does not authenticate pieces bought outside its boutiques.

That last point is on Cartier's care and repair FAQ: Cartier says it is "unable to provide information or authentication for items acquired outside of Cartier boutiques". If you need an independent opinion from photos, our Cartier authentication service has at least two specialists review the inside engravings, the closure and the serial.

Frequently Asked Questions