It didn’t start on a tennis court. Not even close.

Before the world called it a “tennis bracelet,” this piece lived a calm, glamorous life in the 1920s under another name: the line bracelet. A simple row of stones linked together so smoothly that it looked like a band of light around the wrist. Quiet luxury… long before TikTok tried to reinvent the term.

Women wore it to dinners, events, jazz clubs, basically anywhere you’d want a little sparkle without screaming for attention.

So how did this very civilized bracelet end up tied to one of the most chaotic moments in sports?

Enter Chris Evert, and the incident that changed everything.

During a match at the US Open in the late ‘70s, tennis legend Chris Evert was mid-rally when her diamond bracelet flew off.
Like… actually launched off her wrist.

She stopped the entire match and said, “Hold up. I’m not hitting another ball until I find my bracelet.”

Iconic.

The cameras zoomed in. Commentators talked. The audience loved the drama.
And suddenly everyone wanted that bracelet.  The one stylish enough to wear on the court, and important enough to stop a match for.

The media started calling it a “tennis bracelet,” and the name never left.

Why everyone still loves it

• It’s minimal without being boring.
• Sparkly without being loud.
• Works with dresses, jeans, office clothes, gym clothes… literally everything.
• And it has a real story, and not some made-up “inspired by the moon goddess of…” nonsense.

And the symbolism stuck:
A tennis bracelet says you love beauty, but you also take your life (and your jewelry) seriously enough to stop a whole stadium to fix it.

How the design evolved

Since that match, the bracelet has seen every upgrade possible:

• yellow, white, rose gold
• diamonds, lab stones, coloured stones
• slim everyday rows or “I make good decisions” carat sizes
• single-row, double-row, rainbow versions
• pieces meant for the office, the court, the club — or all three

The idea stayed the same: a straight line of sparkle that feels modern, confident, and quietly expensive.

So… why do we care about it at Kumaya?

Because we love pieces with history, culture, and an actual story behind them.
The tennis bracelet is one of the few modern jewelry styles with a real moment attached, a real human deciding her jewelry mattered enough to pause the world.

We respect that energy.