Luxury bags, watches & jewelry · updated June 26, 2026
The Cartier Love bracelet is defined by its functional screws and its hallmark engraving — the two things replicas physically cannot reproduce well.
RealCheck › Luxury bags, watches & jewelry › Fake Cartier Love Bracelet
The tells
Work through every row. No single line is proof on its own — counterfeiters fix the famous tells first — but the more boxes that fail, the more confident you can be.
| What to check | Genuine | Fake |
|---|---|---|
| The screws | The oval screwheads actually turn with the branded screwdriver and stay captive in the bangle (they don't fully fall out on the modern design). Screw motifs are evenly spaced and aligned. | Fake 'screws' are decorative/fixed, misaligned, or fall out; spacing between motifs is uneven. |
| Weight | Solid 18k gold gives real, dense heft (a size 17 sits around ~30g+ depending on width). | Noticeably light — hollow or plated base metal. |
| Hallmark engraving | 'Cartier', '750'/'Au750', size, serial and poinçon are shallow, crisp and evenly spaced. | Deep, uneven, misspelled, or missing metal mark; font that's slightly off. |
| Gold color & finish | Consistent, warm 18k tone with a smooth polished surface; no discoloration at edges. | Brassy or pinkish off-tone, plating wear at high spots, or a too-yellow flash. |
| Acid/metal test | Tests as solid 18k (750) gold throughout. | Plated: a jeweler's test reveals base metal under a thin gold layer. |
Step by step
Serial / date code
Format: A genuine Love bracelet is engraved on the inside with 'Cartier', the metal mark ('750' or 'Au750' for 18k gold / 'PT950' for platinum), the size number, a serial number, and a small hallmark/poinçon. The lettering is shallow, precise and evenly spaced.
Where to find it: Inside surface of the bangle, opposite the screw motifs.
Full Cartier Love Bracelet serial-number & verification guide →
Where to buy authentic
The safest move after learning the tells is to buy where a return or a third-party authentication has your back.
eBay's Authenticity Guarantee has qualifying items independently inspected by experts before they ship to you — a free third-party check on top of the tells above.
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