Will you embrace the bro-bracelet, like Prince Harry?

They jangle as deals are sealed in the City, glint as golden handshakes (or fist bumps) are performed in Palo Alto, and twinkle merrily against the lapping waters in Instagram holiday posts. These are bracelets on men – glimpsed from a shirt cuff where once a statement Rolex would have pride of place, or perhaps jostling alongside it.

Most notably recently, the bro bracelet featured on Prince Harry’s jubilantly waving arms as the prince cheered on the participants of the Invictus Games alongside his wife. The Duchess of Sussex enjoys wearing a bracelet or two herself (she’s rarely seen without her Cartier Love one in yellow gold), but the Prince’s have long been a feature of his wardrobe for more sentimental reasons than a deep and meaningful relationship with Cartier.

He’s spoken in the past about the significance of the beaded bracelets that he steadfastly wears, trinkets from trips to Africa amassed over the years – a place of solace for the royal in the aftermath of his mother Princess Diana’s death. His wife and he have used them for political means, too: in 2019, on a visit to Cape Town, the pair sported matching bracelets spelling out the word “justice” in a nod to the Justice Desk, an African human rights organisation.

So we can count Harry out of the new crop of arrivistes who adorn themselves in bracelets; his collection clearly means a great deal to him and there’s no snide points to be won in mocking a man who draws comfort from a little trinket on his wrist. He recently added to his roster too, with a new beaded bracelet – also sported by Meghan – courtesy of the Invictus Games.

Men’s jewellery in general has become a booming business in the past few decades. Recently Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Gioielleria range of expensive jewels added men’s trinketry to its line-up, and across online retail sites like Mr Porter and Matches Fashion fine jewellery has proliferated. At ground level, men are more expressive than ever in terms of jewellery – Harry Styles donning pearls has encouraged a whole generation to take up the milky stones once preserved to granny’s jewellery box. That the bracelet has become a hallmark of a certain kind of successful alpha man – Jeff Bezos is never seen without his wrist with adornments, Mark Zuckerberg displayed a collection of bangles when taking his daughters to a Taylor Swift concert – is telling.

Bracelets – whether beaded, leather or metal – used to be the preserve of Henrys and Ollies on their gap yah, garnered on trips to Thailand and Africa alongside the Instagram #content to match. But then a curious thing happened: the trend caught on with their dads. Alongside the rise of casualisation in men’s clothing, which meant that the Captain of Industry suit was swapped for slouchy hoodies and the wingtips for trainers, those old symbols of masculine power have been diluted somewhat.

The statement watch – so prevalent in the Gordon Gekko era of men-on-the-make – and shiny cufflinks have been replaced with decoration of a different kind. The weighty chain bracelet – a relic from Harry Enfield’s gauche “Loadsamoney” character – is also replaced, thankfully, with more humble iterations. Without going down the “crystals and moonbeams” route, perhaps it’s synonymous with the rise in all matters around men’s mental health that beaded bracelets have replaced a stonking great watch that wears its price on your wrist (and will get you mugged in certain London environs).

Even if the most spiritual thing you’ve done is a spot of downward dog at the behest of the wife on holiday, the new wrist action – all woven threads and coral stones – at least lends the pretence of a kind of soulfulness. Brands such as the Danish Shamballa have even taken the template and aesthetic – the kind of beaded bracelet one might see at a beach shack in Koh Tao – and applied luxury gemstones at £1,000 price points.

That’s a lot of cash to look like you’re waiting on your A-level results. A more subtle and discreet variant is an easier “in” for the uninitiated: brushed metal with minimal detailing over gewgaws with candy-bright baubles. The heirloom watch will always have its day, but now there are a few young pretenders alongside it on the wrist.

Try these...

Clockwise from top left: Black ceramic cable bracelet, £465, legramme.com; Tommy Hilfiger stainless steel bracelet, £59, johnlewis.com; Isabel Marant beaded bracelet, £95, mrporter.com; Kai Agate bracelet, £120, miansai.com