Ruby Tennis Bracelets

Shopping for an accessory that sees the world's hardest gems mingling with deep red stones that are the color of heat and passion? Find unique vintage ruby and diamond tennis bracelets and other ruby tennis bracelets on 1stDibs today.

Choosing a ruby bracelet — no matter the style — can be a little like choosing a red lipstick. When it comes to these stones, the truest, most vivid reds are fiery, skewing slightly orange. Other shades are deeper, with blue undertones, for a pinker, raspberry color. Vintage ruby jewelry features one of the few gemstones that can give diamonds a run for their money.

Just consider the Van Cleef & Arpels “scarf” necklace the Duke of Windsor presented to the Duchess on her 40th birthday, in 1936 — set with diamonds and dripping with rubies, a testament to the deep-red gemstone’s power — or the slippers encrusted with 4,600 rubies that Harry Winston made to commemorate The Wizard of Oz’s golden anniversary. Rubies are considered precious stones — along with diamonds, sapphires and emeralds — and have a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs Scale, surpassed only by Moissanite and diamonds. It's indisputable: Rubies and diamonds pair nicely.

Vintage tennis bracelets are a no-brainer for those of us who remain unabashedly nostalgic for 1980s or 1990s fashion (the latter boasts many enthusiasts). And as long as the casual-luxe look is hot — and it is — these understated accessories will remain on trend.

The term “tennis bracelet” is relatively new. It stems from a tennis match that Chris Evert — the first player to win 1,000 singles matches — played in an early round of the U.S. Open during the late 1970s. A diamond and gold bracelet that the celebrated athlete had been wearing broke, and play was stopped while she scrambled to look for it on the court. At the time, minimalist fine jewelry was the order of the day. 

Subdued ornament in the manner of Elsa Peretti’s versatile 1970s-era necklaces and bracelets for Tiffany & Co. wowed wearers and garnered media acclaim at the time, and the design of Evert’s subtle straight-line bracelet, the kind that had likely been referred to as an “eternity bracelet” before then, spoke to what was a popular type of jewelry during the era. The diamond tennis bracelets worn these days, whether they're dotted with rubies or not, differ little from those crafted during the 1970s, although they’re likely outfitted with sturdier clasps that prevent them from coming apart during extensive tennis matches. 

Find extraordinary vintage ruby tennis bracelets and other tennis bracelets on 1stDibs.