The Origin of the “Tennis Bracelet” Name Explained

The traditional tennis bracelet is a flexible, slender band adorned with small, identical diamonds. Although there are many variations—some featuring diamonds in less uniform arrangements. While others use different gemstones—none of these designs seem to have any direct connection to tennis.

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The most commonly told origin story goes like this: During the 1987 U.S. Open, tennis star Chris Evert wore a delicate diamond bracelet that snapped off her wrist in the middle of a match. She paused the game to retrieve it, and the media attention surrounding this incident popularized the term “tennis bracelet,” as she referred to it.

However, this story is complicated by the fact that references to the term tennis bracelet. Moreover, in its current context appeared before the 1987 U.S. Open by a few years. So what’s the real story?

Chrissie Evert’s Diamond Moment

One part of the story is easy to correct: people have simply gotten the year wrong when reporting about Evert’s bracelet breaking on the court. In 2018, Evert publicist, Tami Starr, told The Adventurine that Evert recalled the incident happening when the U.S. Open moved from Forest Hills to Flushing Meadows (both located in Queens, New York). The U.S. Open was first held in Flushing Meadows in 1978, not 1987. Other than the date error, Evert’s memory largely aligns with the common version of the story.

The Evolution of the Tennis Bracelet Trend

Chrissie recalls that she wore a diamond and gold bracelet, which broke and fell onto the court during an early round of the Open. The officials halted play while she searched for it, Starr said.

However, attributing the entire tennis bracelet craze to this single incident may oversimplify its history. For one, many of Evert’s significant matches during the 1978 U.S. The early-round incident with the broken bracelet did not reach a large audience because many of the U.S. Open matches were not nationally televised.

The media also provided little to no coverage of the event at the time. Additionally, the term “tennis bracelet” didn’t begin appearing in newspapers until the mid-1980s.

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In other words, there isn’t solid evidence to support the idea that the public rushed to buy “tennis bracelets” after Evert wore—and then lost and found—a diamond bracelet during a widely publicized match in 1978. Nevertheless, she still deserves some credit for popularizing the style.

Chris Evert: Fashion Icon and Bracelet Trendsetter

As one Redditor aptly put it, Chris Evert was a fashion GOAT. She began earning this title at just 16, when she competed against Billie Jean King in the 1971 U.S. Open semifinals, wearing a white lace dress, hoop earrings, and a white bow in her hair.

Evert’s outfits, often white dresses with colorful accents and matching hair ribbons, radiated athletic femininity. Jewelry was also a part of her style, even as her attire became more casual and vibrant in the 1980s.

In the 80s, Evert secured a sponsorship with Rolex, which likely enhanced her association with wristwear, from sweatbands to cuff bracelets to tennis bracelets (then called diamond line or eternity bracelets). As the term “tennis bracelet” began appearing in newspapers, Evert was frequently mentioned alongside it.

The Rise of the Tennis Bracelet Trend

A December 1986 gift guide in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram stated Chris Evert Lloyd started it all when she showed up on the tennis court wearing a narrow diamond bracelet on the same wrist as her Rolex. Thus, the tennis bracelet was born. Similarly, a September 1987 ad in Pennsylvania’s York Daily Record featured the bracelets next to a tennis ball and racket, with the headline Look what Chris Evert started!

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Earlier that summer, The New York Times featured an article on the new trend of wearing diamond-line bracelets in athletic settings. The piece noted that people commonly called these bracelets “tennis bracelets” largely because Chris Evert wore them on the court, often pairing them with watches from Piaget or Rolex. The article speculated that the term originated in southern Florida, where Evert resides.

The flexibility and simplicity of the bracelet made it suitable for tennis, as it could be worn on the non-dominant wrist, avoiding interference with the racket. While tennis bracelets didn’t become a widespread trend until years after Evert first wore one, she embraced 1978 as the year her bracelet became iconic, as highlighted on her tennis bracelet collection page with jeweler Monica Rich Kosann.