Real vs Fake Tiffany & Co. Lock Bracelet: How to Spot a Fake

Real vs Fake Tiffany Lock Bracelet: How to Tell If Yours Is Real

To tell a real vs fake Tiffany Lock bracelet apart, read the engraving inside the band before anything else. On the authentic engravings in this guide, TIFFANY & Co. leaves a clear gap on both sides of the ampersand. The two counterfeits run Y, & and C together. Then check that the carat weight in the engraving matches what Tiffany lists for that version and size, and that the closure works the way Tiffany describes for that style.

Tiffany announced Tiffany Lock on August 10, 2022 as four bracelets in 18k yellow, rose and white gold, with or without diamonds, priced from $6,800 to $32,000 at launch. Launch coverage, including Rebag's, called it the house's first all-gender collection. Tiffany says the clasp is inspired by a padlock from The Tiffany Archives that dates to 1883. The Tiffany Lock Bangle in White Gold with Diamond Accents was listed at $12,100 on Tiffany's US site in July 2025, the latest archived price I could confirm. A fake Tiffany Lock bracelet copies the bar shape easily, so any Tiffany Lock bracelet real vs fake comparison has to move to the engraving and the numbers inside it, where copies slip.

How the Tiffany Lock Differs From Other Tiffany and Designer Bangles

The Lock is a solid bangle with a padlock-shaped bar and a hidden closure, so none of the chain, tag or toggle checks from our Return to Tiffany necklace real vs fake guide apply here. It also differs from the screw-and-nail bangles people compare it with: a Cartier bangle carries its own hallmark layout and serial format, covered in our Cartier Juste un Clou bracelet guide and our Cartier bracelet guide. A Lock with pavé, with diamond accents or in plain gold is still a Lock, and Tiffany sells it as a bangle, so a Tiffany Lock bangle real vs fake check is the same check. Compare yours only against the same Tiffany version and width. HardWear is signed on the links themselves, as our guide to Tiffany HardWear shows, and Cartier's screw-closure bangle has its own Cartier Love bracelet real vs fake guide.

Why the Tiffany Lock Bracelet Is Heavily Counterfeited

A five-figure bangle with one simple outline is an easy target. The Lock's shape reads from across a room, the bar is a plain block of metal or pavé, and a listing photo rarely shows the inside of the band. That is exactly where the useful evidence sits.

In U.S. Customs and Border Protection's fiscal year 2024 seizure statistics, jewelry was the most valuable category of counterfeit goods seized, at about $1.65 billion in retail value, ahead of watches at about $1.44 billion, across 713,036 seized jewelry items.

The photos below come from several confirmed authentic and counterfeit pieces, not from one matched pair. I describe what separates these pieces, not a rule for every fake.

Inner Band Logo Engraving: Spacing Around the Ampersand

Both bands carry the same engraved serif line, a copyright sign followed by TIFFANY & Co. On the authentic band there is clear space on each side of the ampersand. On the counterfeit the Y, the ampersand and the C almost touch, so the line reads TIFFANY&Co. This is the first thing I zoom on in any fake vs real Tiffany Lock bracelet photo.

• Measured, not eyeballed. Divided by the width of the ampersand itself, so the camera angle cancels out, the two gaps around it add up to about 0.55 on the authentic photos here. A genuine half pavé Lock in Sotheby's lot photos measures about the same. On the two counterfeits the gaps add up to about 0.15.
• Copyright sign and serif letters. Both sides open with a circled C and use a similar serif typeface, so the presence of the sign proves nothing. Read the rhythm of the line instead.
• Metal color is not a tell. The authentic band here is white gold and the counterfeit rose gold. Tiffany makes the Lock in both.
• Reflections are not a tell. The counterfeit letters show a light inner edge from the way the cut catches light. Shine depends on the photo, not on the maker.

Photograph the inside of the band straight on, with the light coming from the side, so the whole TIFFANY & Co. line sits in one sharp frame.

Hallmark Line: Au750, Carat Weight, ITALY and the Serial

The hallmark line on the authentic band reads TIFFANY & Co. Au750 d0.31ct followed by ITALY. Au750 means 18k gold, 750 parts per thousand. The counterfeit carries the same sequence, which is why a matching line proves little. What separates them is the ampersand again. This second counterfeit, in white gold, also sets the Y against the ampersand, the same habit as the rose gold copy in the previous checkpoint.

• Au750 or Au 750 is not a tell. The authentic band here sets Au and 750 close together, but Sotheby's photo of a genuine half pavé Lock shows Au 750 with a full space. Spacing inside the gold mark varies on genuine pieces.
• Carat figure matches Tiffany. The authentic d0.31ct is the exact carat total weight Tiffany lists for the medium white gold Lock with diamond accents.
• A different carat figure is a different version. The counterfeit reads d1.09ct. That is a different diamond version, so the number is not a tell by itself. Check it against Tiffany's listing, as described in the next checkpoint.
• Tiffany Lock bracelet serial number. Sotheby's lot notes describe genuine Lock bangles as signed with a serial number, and its photo shows the serial engraved after ITALY on the same line. Sotheby's blurs the digits, so this guide gives no serial format. Check that a serial is there, not what it says.
• ITALY. Both lines end in ITALY. Sotheby's lot notes describe genuine Lock bangles as signed Tiffany & Co. Italy, so a generic claim that real Tiffany is always made in the USA does not apply here.

Copy the whole line in order, including what follows ITALY, then compare the spacing around the ampersand, not just the characters. Our hallmark checker explains what Au750 and other gold marks mean.

Carat Weight Against Tiffany's Listing for Your Size

Genuine Lock bangles with diamonds carry an engraved diamond weight, as the authentic band above shows and Sotheby's lot notes describe, and Tiffany lists a carat total weight for each version and size on its own site. That turns one number into a check. The engraved figure should match the listing for your exact version, such as diamond accents, half pavé or full pavé, your width and your size. A match is consistent, not proof.

• Diamond accents. Tiffany lists the medium white gold Lock with diamond accents at a carat total weight of .31, the figure engraved on the authentic band above.
• Half pavé grows with size. Tiffany lists the half pavé bangle at 1.20 carats in medium and 1.32 in large. A genuine white gold half pavé Lock sold by Sotheby's, 7¾ inches inside, carried 1.39 carats.
• Narrow is lighter. Tiffany listed the Lock Narrow bangle in rose and white gold with half pavé at 1.15 carats in medium, close to a standard half pavé figure. Know which width you have before comparing.
• Full pavé is far heavier. Tiffany lists the white gold full pavé bangle at 4.99 carats in medium and 5.26 in large. A full pavé Lock engraved with a figure near one carat sits far below both.
• Seven sizes. Tiffany's size selector for the standard bangle runs from Extra Small to XXXL, and the medium fits wrists up to 6.25 inches. Confirm the size before comparing numbers.

Identify the version from where the stones sit (accents, half pavé or full pavé), note the width, measure the inner band, then read the carat figure from the engraving.

Closure: Notch on the Bangle, Button on the Narrow

Tiffany says the Lock clasp took its artisans over one year to develop. For the standard Lock bangle, its instructions say to open and close it only from the notch, a small indent on the band. You pull outward on each side of the notch, then swivel the two ends together and release them to click into place. Fashionphile adds that the notch sits on one side only.

• The narrow bangle opens differently. Tiffany's instructions for the Lock Narrow bangle start with a button on the inside of the bracelet. You press it, pull outward and swivel the bracelet open. A button inside is correct on the narrow style.
• Hidden closure. Tiffany's listings call it a hidden closure on both widths, so the join should not read as a separate clasp in a photo.
• Match the mechanism to the width. A standard bangle with a push button, or any Lock with a screw or a visible box clasp, does not match Tiffany's instructions. Check the instructions for your exact style before judging the mechanism.

Ask the seller for a short video of the bracelet opening and closing, and a photo of the band open.

Receipt and Purchase Channel

Tiffany's FAQ says the company does not currently offer an authentication program, so Tiffany Lock authentication for a secondhand piece cannot come from Tiffany itself. The same FAQ lists where Tiffany sells new pieces online: its own regional sites, plus collaborations with Net-a-Porter and Farfetch. A receipt from one of those channels or a Tiffany store is the strongest paperwork a Lock can have.

• Product number. Tiffany lists a product number for each size. The medium white gold Lock with diamond accents is 70425068. A receipt should name a product that fits the bracelet in the photos.
• Box and bag. Tiffany says every purchase arrives in a Tiffany Blue Box. Boxes travel separately on resale sites, so they prove nothing on their own.

Photograph the receipt with personal details covered, keeping the product description, product number, store and date visible.

Red Flags That End the Inspection

On this Tiffany Lock comparison, the engraving rhythm is the finding I would stop on. The authentic lines keep clear space around the ampersand. An engraving that runs TIFFANY&Co. together cannot be rescued by a correct shape, a correct carat figure or a genuine box.

• TIFFANY&Co. with no space around the ampersand. Both counterfeits in this guide do it, on two different metals.
• A carat figure that does not fit the stones. A Lock set with pavé all the way around but engraved with a figure from a much lighter version is worth stopping on.
• A closure that does not match the width. Tiffany describes a notch on the standard bangle and a button inside on the narrow bangle.
• A price far below resale. Price is not proof, but it is the reason to ask for photos of the inner band before paying.

Not red flags on their own: the gold color, a high polish or a satin look, a missing box, and the gold mark itself, whether it reads Au750 or Au 750. Each varies between genuine pieces and photos or is easy to copy.

What Current Superfakes Get Right

The counterfeits in these photographs are not crude. The pavé copy matches the Lock outline, the block-shaped bar and the slim band. The engravings carry the copyright sign, a serif TIFFANY & Co., the gold mark, a carat figure and ITALY in the right order.

What these Tiffany Lock counterfeits still miss is how the engraving is spaced. The characters are correct, but the ampersand is squeezed against its neighbors on both copies. Copying a sequence of characters is easy. Matching the spacing of a genuine engraving is harder.

Expect a superfake to pass a quick look at the shape and the stamp. How to spot a fake Tiffany Lock bracelet at this level comes down to spacing and to numbers that must agree with Tiffany's own listings. For another designer bangle with its own closure and stamps, see our Hermès Clic H bracelet guide.

What You Can Check Yourself and What You Cannot

The carat figure, the size and the product number transfer best through a written guide, because each has a fixed answer on Tiffany's site. Engraving spacing is harder. It is a judgment about how a line is set, and it needs a confirmed Tiffany Lock of the same version, photographed straight on, to compare against.

Au750 is a fineness mark, 750 parts per thousand, and the British Hallmarking Council lists 750 as the standard for 18ct gold. An engraved number is the maker's claim, not an independent assay, and counterfeiters engrave it too, so it never counts as a pass on its own.

When we review a Lock from customer photographs at LegitGrails, we compare the inner band against confirmed pieces of the same version, built up since 2019. You can authenticate your Tiffany Lock with our experts, with each item checked by at least two specialists.

Frequently Asked Questions