Kenneth Jay Lane Gold Bracelet

The father of so-called “fabulous fakes,” Kenneth Jay Lane was a spirited innovator within the jewelry industry, designing elegant and luxurious pieces without the use of real jewels. And while Lane aspired to create classic designs for earrings, bracelets and necklaces intended for everyday wear, his pieces caught the attention of celebrities, royalty and socialites.

From a young age, the Detroit, Michigan-born Lane was a lover of fashion. He studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Michigan. He pursued a design career in New York City, and a failed start in the art department of Vogue magazine led to a decade of designing shoes for the likes of Delman and Christian Dior.

Lane would occasionally develop shoe designs for friends he had in the fashion world such as Bill Blass and Arnold Scaasi. A show for the latter afforded him the opportunity to beautify shoes with rhinestones and create bangles and earrings to pair with the footwear — he found plastic bracelets at discount variety store and had them embellished by craftspeople at a shoe factory.

A love for costume jewelry design emerged thereafter. Lane created his own collection and admirers such as Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor showered him with praise. A pearl necklace he designed was worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. In the early 1960s, ready-to-wear pioneer Hattie Carnegie purchased Lane’s jewelry line. Lane was given the position of design director for Carnegie but he soon changed course, moving instead into a small studio and pursuing his own path.

Lane worked with milk glass, gilded silver hardware, faux coral and other materials, and sold pendant necklaces, dangle earrings and modern bracelets to private customers. He was fond of renowned fine jewelry houses Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels and designers such as Jean Schlumberger, and cited having found inspiration in Egyptian and Indian jewelry over the years as well as Art Deco jewelry. Lane’s designs, which he called “faque” and “junque,” became well-known for their distinctive color combinations and clever characteristics such as embroidery. By the time he purchased a small jewelry factory in Providence, Rhode Island, where his accessories would be made during the 1960s, Lane had secured relationships with top Manhattan boutiques and his work had caught the attention of fashion magazines.

Directed by the filmmaker Gisèle Roman, a 2018 documentary about Lane’s life and work called Fabulously Fake: The Real Life of Kenneth Jay Lane features interviews with legendary fashion designers Carolina Herrera, Tory Burch and Diane von Furstenberg.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Kenneth Jay Lane brooches, rings and other accessories.

Today, antique and vintage bracelets are versatile and universally loved accessories that can add polish and pizzazz to any ensemble.

Bracelets were among the jewels discovered to have been buried with Pharaoh Tutankhamun when his tomb was unearthed in 1922, and wrist and arm bracelets were allegedly worn by Queen Puabi in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia. But preceding the adornments of Ancient Egypt and elsewhere, the people of prehistoric times likely wore the decorative accessory, fashioning it from shells and fish bones. When the Bronze Age allowed for more durable materials and semiprecious stones to be incorporated into jewelry, bracelets became a treasured symbol of wealth.

In the thousands of years following the debut of the world’s first bracelets, the artistry behind this common accessory has only broadened, with designers at popular jewelry houses growing more venturesome over time. David Webb looked to nature for his Animal Kingdom bracelets, and for her best-selling bracelets and more at Tiffany & Co., Elsa Peretti would frequently do the same. From bangles to tennis bracelets, the modern age offers plenty of options.

Internationally acclaimed bracelet designs have on occasion become powerful symbols of status, style and, in the case of Cartier's iconic design, love. The Cartier Love bracelet can be found on the wish list of most jewelry lovers and on the wrist of some of the world’s biggest stars. Its arrangement of mock screwheads and distinctive functionality — it was initially locked and unlocked with an accompanying vermeil screwdriver — is an enduring expression of loyalty, unity and romance. (Do you know how to spot a fake Cartier Love bracelet?)

While the Love bracelet has played a role in the skyrocketing popularity of cuff-style bracelets, they are far from the only glamorous option for collectors. Make a statement with an Art Deco design, a style that sees all kinds of iterations fitted with studded cuffs, one-of-a-kind shapes and dazzling insets. A chunky vintage gold bracelet in the Retro style will prove eye-catching and elevate any outfit.

One of the best things about bracelets, however, is that you never have to choose just one. Style icon Jacqueline Kennedy stacked her Croisillon bracelets — designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. — with such frequency that the ornate bangles were eventually dubbed “Jackie bracelets” by reporters. Contemporary silver pieces can easily complement each other, rendering a layering of luxury almost a necessity.

Find a diverse collection of bracelets that you can sort by style, stone cut and more on 1stDibs.