Why Bracelet Stacks are Making a Comeback

First, it was the ring stack, then the neck mess and the ear cluster, and now it’s the wrist array. The idea of wearing jewellery in multiples is not new, although the area of focus shifts depending on the season and current fashion. Plain, long-sleeved polo necks and dresses in winter see the neck mess come into its own; a hot summer with hotter prints demands earring attention and armfuls of bracelets on bare, sunkissed limbs.

The wrist array is also now a timeless feature, especially in the era of quiet luxury when clothes are so subtle as to be anonymous and jewellery is your passport to individuality. The secret is how you make it yours. One of the most elegant women I know sports an ever-changing stack, based on a majestic, heavy-linked Edwardian bracelet with a dangling, engraved heart, a more modern, simpler chain to which she has attached her own charms, and a Cartier Love bracelet. Alongside these constants are small, colourful beaded gifts from friends and children, pretty pieces that might equally be costume jewellery or from an illustrious name, and ephemeral items of bright silk cord and tiny, natural charms, bought on holiday for happy memories and worn until they break.

Another secret is to own enough constituent parts to ring the changes and enhance the colours and style of whatever you are wearing. If you love neutral minimalism, your wrist array can either bring a pop of colour that you also pick up with an accessory, or meld subtly with your clothes to create a sophisticated look, especially if you are wearing tone-on-tone variants of a particular shade.

For fans of colour, print, pattern and all things boho, which appears to be on the way back yet again, if shows for next summer from brands like Chloé, part of Saint Laurent and the much anticipated new Valentino are anything to go by, then a bracelet stack with its 1970s overtones is a natural partner, though here it steadies the heady mix – too much variation gets lost.

Another acquaintance who has a way with bold bangles, many of which she designs herself, will choose a colour from one of the richly embroidered dresses she favours and makes sure any gemstone bracelets are in tones of that colour, mixing them with ornate but metal-only styles, charm bracelets and slender bangles, with an occasional skinny diamond tennis bracelet thrown in. Worn on both arms, they draw the eye so her colourful clothes, however beautiful, become the background.

The stacking bracelet has become such a fixture that for anyone wanting to create their own the choice is overwhelming, at literally every market level. Astley Clarke, the mid-level brand that was one of the originators of stacking, are still expanding their choice to cope with the new enthusiasm. “I think stacking bracelets is a great way to wear sentimental jewellery that you don’t want to take off while also wearing pieces that might be more seasonal or precious which you wouldn’t necessarily wear all the time,” says Astley Clarke CEO Lynette Ong. “Why limit yourself to one bracelet when stacking offers multiple possibilities? You can adapt your selection depending on what you’re wearing, layering more pieces for a statement look or removing some to keep it more minimal. You can also add a touch of colour with gemstones or texture with pearls to break up a heavy gold section.”

Sage advice, as the aim – and the natural territory of the celebrities and influencers who started it all – is that it should look generous yet effortless, so a stack that goes from top to bottom in value scores more style points than sporting a logo-stamped collection from a big luxury brand. It’s appropriate as this trend started at street level among young influencers, probably as a riposte to the recent rise of wide, and expensive, cuff bracelets, whereas the DIY stack can be achieved for less outlay.

However, there are great examples of smaller bracelets from many top jewellery houses that are exquisitely made and stunning enough to command attention when worn alone but look wonderfully insouciant in a stack. Pieces like Van Cleef & Arpels’ beautiful new blue agate version of its famous Alhambra bracelet, which can be stacked with variants in gold guilloché, other hardstones, or different ranges like the Perlée, and even a matching watch. Equally, Harry Winston’s stunning, graduated diamond tennis bracelet, and Piaget’s Possession bangles with their spinning motifs and textured gold surfaces, would all make a basis for the grandest of arrays, or the most extreme of high-low combos.

Many luxury brands find fine jewellery a lucrative area and are shrewdly producing flexible collections of relatively small pieces in gold, some with small gems and often logos or symbols that identify the brand. This appeals to international markets and also creates a clear distinction from their pricier, one-off, high jewellery items.

Chanel’s Coco Crush moulds gold into the instantly recognisable pillowy surface of a quilted bag, Dior weaves the Cannage motif of its oval-backed salon chairs in gold, while Gucci returns to its famous early symbol, the Horse Bit, and Bulgari re-imagines the 1920s Tubogas, a flexible metal tube that makes a great bracelet and mixes amiably. Chaumet’s Bee My Love pieces are based on a tiny, hexagonal honeycomb motif – a subtle allusion to the bee that was Napoleon’s symbol, as Chaumet’s forerunner was the Emperor’s court jeweller.

A simple gold bracelet, at least a narrow one, is almost a point of entry to these major brands and often a global money spinner. Most brands do them in various sizes and coordinate them in style with other ranges, to mix and match. Tiffany’s chain-based, slightly tough CityHardwear bracelet comes in different sizes and ties in with the plainer Lock bracelet, the chunkier Titan pearl bracelet and the new, faceted-dial Hardwear Watch. Cartier has recently revived both the Love bracelet and the three-colour gold Trinity, the latter a masterstroke as it links to three gold shades and bestows approval on multi-gold stacks, as does Elie Top’s beautiful Twist bracelet.

The moral here is anything goes. Start with your own jewellery box, refinding bracelets with sentimental value or charm bracelets, as personal as it gets. Add a luxury brand or two for top-level quality plus a hint of irony, or savvy-signalling if you are so inclined. Then consider the independent brands making creative stacks.

Fernando Jorge’s Fluid and geometric styles blend together or within an existing array, as do pieces from Marie Mas, designed to fit around the wrist bone. L’Atelier Nawbar and Nada Ghazal both add a finely crafted touch of colourful boho, while Messika’s diamond bracelets and 886 by The Royal Mint’s bangles are disciplined, modern punctuation points.

For casual pieces that will last a lot longer than a beach bracelet, specialists in gold vermeil and semi-precious stones are a literal treasure trove. Monica Vinader’s tactile, organic shapes, add-to charm bracelets and silk cords sporting hardstones in attractive colour schemes are so wide-ranging your choice will be odds-on unique, while Astley Clarke’s best-selling double-row Biography (fine chain plus hardstone beads) has new varieties each season, to intersperse with organically shaped chains and vintage-looking, diamond-scattered bangles. With such great choices at all market levels, nothing can beat creating your own personal array.