Cartier small love bracelet, Suzanne Kalan bracelet, Zoe Lev custom bracelet, paperclip bracelet from the RealReal
Remember in my weekend update post in January where I mentioned I returned a wildly expensive Christmas gift from my husband (thus I felt like I could spend money buying a lot of little things—like I said a fool’s thinking). Anyway what I was referring to was this Suzanne Kalan Rainbow Sapphire Bangle. I thought I “deserved it” because of a hard year (but also didn’t we all have a hard 2020?). I found it on the RealReal, so it wasn’t brand new and thus the price wasn’t as crazy as if you bought it retail ($4000—I know it’s RIDICULOUS). But after wearing it around the house for several weeks, I decided to return it in the end because TBH it just wasn’t worth it to me. But I thought I would at least write a review of it here so that those who are thinking about splurging on this bangle (or any other bangle from Suzanne Kalan) can have some idea about the pros and cons of this bracelet.
First off the pros: it is a gorgeous piece of jewelry that doesn’t really scream extravagance. I love the rainbow colors done in a tasteful way, with a small diamond in between each colored sapphire. The colored gems don’t sparkle that much but the diamonds sure do. Yet the emerald cut of the colored sapphires really are gorgeous. The cuff is made in a way that it’s flexible and can bend a bit while still holding it’s shape when not in tension. And the bracelet is made of 18k solid gold.
If you’re interested in the ethics behind Suzanne Kalan, most items are made to order in the US. And they work to ensure all their gems were acquired in a socially responsible way. But all mining is technically bad for the earth so I prefer to purchase my jewelry secondhand (from reputable sources of course).
I was *this close* to keeping the bracelet, but in the end I decided to return it because of…well the price. Yep I couldn’t stomach keeping a $2900 (what I paid for) bracelet if I didn’t 100% love it. The Cartier bracelet is similar in price (to the SK one at retail) but I had no such doubts with that one. Also I do think the Cartier bracelet would hold its value better in the long run. And then the sizing of the Suzanne Kalan bracelet: even though I’m wearing the smallest size bracelet, my wrists are narrow so it kept flipping over. So whenever I looked down at my arm I would see the non-gem side and I would constantly have to rotate it if I want to see the colorful side. And lastly, because it’s a cuff that didn’t fit well on my wrist, the ends would occasionally get snagged on something (usually my pocket) and tug at my arm. Luckily the bracelet was flexible enough that it didn’t break (which is a really nice design feature). But in the end I didn’t think the cuff suited my lifestyle (running around after a toddler).
I was able to return it to the RealReal (where I saw it promptly sold again). If you’ve been thinking about trying a piece of used jewelry from the RealReal, I highly recommend getting it at the end of November (around Black Friday sales time) since they give you a generous return window (usually until the first week of January). So you have a long time to decide on whether something or not works for you. In the end, this Suzanne Kalan bracelet was not something that would work for my daily life, and I didn’t really want to spend that much on a piece of jewelry that would end up lying around in a jewelry box.
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