Cable BraceletBy David Yurman
In 1983, David Yurman (b. 1942) twisted 50 feet of metal wire into a helix, shaped it into a cuff and made jewelry history. This was the birth of the Cable bracelet, a piece at once modern and historic, complex and strikingly simple, and a style that would beget a continuous collection of jewelry.
By the time of the Cable’s creation, Yurman and his wife, Sybil, chief brand officer at his eponymous brand, were deeply entrenched in the New York art world and the emerging craft scene: As a young man, David learned direct welding under Cuban artist Ernesto González. Later, he started his own sculpture studio after studying with modernist sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, and he met Sybil when they were both working for Hans Van de Bovenkamp in 1969. In the late 1970s, the couple decamped to Upstate New York, where they started Putnam Art Works, a sculpture and jewelry studio. And while they became regulars at certain craft fairs, the couple always had a foot in the urbane: “Everyone would show up in these old VW vans wearing tie-dye, and we were coming out of the city in a 1964 black Cadillac with the seats knocked out of the back. We were definitely still New Yorkers,” Yurman said in a 2017 interview.
Indeed, it’s this juxtaposition of handicraft and elegance that would come to define the Yurmans’ jewelry company — an aesthetic that’s exemplified with the Cable, whose simple metal twist is capped off by gold-set gems at either end. The design has widespread roots, from jewelry motifs of ancient Syria to natural formations of tree branches that captured Yurman’s attention as a child to the graceful fortitude of cable bridges and the flexibility of nautical rope.
“There’s nothing I don’t like about cable,” Yurman has said. “I feel totally at home and embraced by the form.”
Fittingly, given its helix shape, the cable motif has become the backbone of David Yurman’s aesthetic — so much so that its illustrious history was the subject of a 2017 book from Rizzoli, titled simply Cable. (Safe to assume anyone who’s anyone would know what that single word refers to.) In addition to the original Cable bracelet, the twisted metal has been turned into rings, pendants and chain links. It’s even sometimes added to the backs or undersides of jewelry, invisible to the wearer but still present, connecting the jewelry to its visual heritage.
“There is a life rhythm with cable,” Yurman says in Cable. “Like DNA, it brings form to life.”
David Yurman Cable Bracelet
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Modern Bracelets
Citrine, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Onyx, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Cuff Bracelets
Ruby, Gold, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Contemporary Cuff Bracelets
Ruby, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Bangles
18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold
2010s American Contemporary Bangles
Yellow Gold, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Bangles
Diamond, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Bangles
Black Diamond, Sterling Silver, Silver
1990s American Bangles
Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Bangles
Diamond, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Contemporary Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold, White Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold, White Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Bangles
Diamond, Sterling Silver, Silver
2010s Contemporary Bangles
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Bangles
Diamond, Sterling Silver, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Bangles
Diamond, Sterling Silver, Silver
Antique Late 19th Century American Contemporary Cuff Bracelets
Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Contemporary Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, White Diamond, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Antique 15th Century and Earlier European Contemporary Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Onyx, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Sterling Silver
1990s American Artisan Clamper Bracelets
Chalcedony, Garnet, 14k Gold, Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century North American Modern Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, Pearl, Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Bangles
Diamond, 18k Gold, Silver
2010s Contemporary Bangles
18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Bangles
Black Diamond, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Contemporary Wrist Watches
Garnet, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold, Silver, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary North American Modern Cuff Bracelets
Diamond, 14k Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Contemporary Cuff Bracelets
Amethyst, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Charm Bracelets
Diamond, Sterling Silver
