Cartier Juste un Clou Bracelet, Diamonds (18k gold)

From a hardware store to a jeweler's window

This bracelet is a diamond-set version of the Nail, which Aldo Cipullo designed for Cartier New York two years after his 1969 Love bracelet. According to his biographer, the idea came on a sleepless night while he was reading a book on Christianity. He was struck by the idea that the greatest gift a man can give is to lay down his life for a friend. Jesus Christ Superstar was playing at the time. Within twenty-four hours he had designed a collection based on the nail, with smaller pieces based on nuts, bolts, screws and wrenches.

Cartier says the design was 'designed for Cartier New York in the 1970s' and describes it as a simple nail turned into jewelry. Most other accounts date it to 1971. Cipullo liked to say his second home was the hardware store. Early bangles are signed both Cartier and A. Cipullo.

Diamonds on a nail are not only a modern idea. A dealer once offered a circa-1971 Cipullo Nail bracelet set with about 2.75 carats of diamonds for $47,900. The listing does not give a date, so that figure stays out of this page's price history.

The designer behind the nail

Cipullo was born in 1935 and grew up in Rome, the eldest of five children of a costume jewelry maker. His biographer gives Naples as his birthplace, while one auction catalog calls him Roman-born. He moved to New York in 1959 and worked for David Webb and then Tiffany. When Tiffany turned down his Love bracelet, he took it to Cartier New York, which Michael Thomas was running independently of Paris at the time.

He left in 1974 to start Aldo Cipullo Limited, and that year he won a Coty Award for men's jewelry. He died in New York on February 2, 1984, at 48. His name stayed obscure until Cartier relaunched the Nail in 2012 and credited both of its signature bracelets to him.

2012: the nail returns with diamonds

Cartier relaunched the design in April 2012 as Juste un Clou, 'just a nail.' The new line came in yellow, white or pink gold, either plain or set with diamonds, in large and small sizes. At launch, prices ranged from $2,175 to $34,000. To mark the relaunch, Cartier held an exhibition called 'Cartier & Aldo Cipullo, New York City in the 70s' at its Fifth Avenue mansion from April 13 to May 8, 2012. Guests at the opening included Jason Wu, Karlie Kloss, Lou Reed and Cipullo's brother Renato.

Cartier later added a fully diamond-paved version of the bracelet. The model on this page sits between the plain gold bracelet and the paved ones. In yellow gold, its 32 brilliant-cut diamonds total 0.58 carat, and it is 3.5 mm wide, the same as the plain classic model.

The world the relaunch arrived in was very different from Cipullo's. In 2012 London hosted the Summer Olympics, NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars, Psy's Gangnam Style spread worldwide, Hurricane Sandy became the largest Atlantic hurricane on record by diameter, and Barack Obama won a second term.

What it costs, and what it brings

This entry tracks a current reference, so its main price is Cartier's own asking price. The diamond-set yellow gold bracelet was reported at $12,500 in the United States before Cartier's April 18, 2023 increase, and at $13,300 after it. It did not change in May 2025. In the U.S. increase of September 25, 2025, it rose 12.7 percent to $15,000. That was the steepest rise among the Juste un Clou bracelets reported. On October 1, 2026, Cartier's U.S. site listed B6048617 at $15,000, with white gold at $16,000 and pink gold at $15,000.

Pre-owned examples sell for much less. A classic yellow gold bracelet with 32 diamonds in size 16, sold as not authenticated, brought $2,460 in an online jewelry auction that ended May 27, 2026. The reseller's gemologists graded its stones at 0.53 to 0.58 carat total weight, G-H color and VS2-SI1 clarity on the GIA scale. The bracelet was stamped Cartier, 16, with a serial number, Au750 and a workshop mark.

How to read one

Start with the reference and the stone count. B6048617 is the yellow gold classic model with diamonds. Cartier lists 32 brilliant-cut diamonds totaling 0.58 carat and a 3.5 mm width in size 17, and notes that carat weight, number of stones and dimensions all vary with size. Cartier does not publish color or clarity grades for the stones.

Check the marks. Modern bracelets carry the Cartier signature, the size, a serial number and Au750, the mark for 18k gold. Sellers that sell bracelets as not authenticated are telling buyers that no one has confirmed the piece is genuine, and the price reflects that.

Don't confuse this model with the small diamond bracelet ($5,850 in pink gold after September 2025) or with the fully paved bracelets, which cost several times more.

The numbers

Carat weight

0.58 carat total, 32 brilliant-cut diamonds (varies with bracelet size)

Color and clarity

Not published by Cartier; one resold example was graded G-H, VS2-SI1 by the reseller

Origin mine

Not disclosed by Cartier

Cutter

Not disclosed by Cartier

Metal

18k yellow gold (750/1000)

Width

3.5 mm (size 17)

Timeline

1. 1935

   Aldo Cipullo is born. He grows up in Rome.

2. 1959

   Cipullo arrives in New York.

3. 1969

   Cipullo designs the Love bracelet for Cartier New York.

4. 1971

   Cipullo designs the Nail bracelet for Cartier New York.

5. 1974

   Cipullo founds Aldo Cipullo Limited and wins a Coty Award.

6. Feb 2, 1984

   Cipullo dies in New York at 48.

7. Apr 13, 2012

   Cartier opens 'Cartier & Aldo Cipullo, New York City in the 70s' and relaunches the Nail as Juste un Clou, with plain and diamond-set versions.

8. May 8, 2012

   The relaunch exhibition closes.

9. Apr 18, 2023

   Cartier raises the U.S. price of the yellow gold diamond bracelet from $12,500 to $13,300.

10. May 14, 2025

    The diamond classic model stays at $13,300 in Cartier's May 2025 price round.

11. Sep 25, 2025

    Cartier raises the U.S. price 12.7 percent to $15,000.

12. May 27, 2026

    A pre-owned 32-diamond classic bracelet in size 16 sells online for $2,460.

The world in 2012

• Jun 8, 2012

  UEFA Euro 2012 opens in Warsaw.

• Jul 15, 2012

  Psy releases Gangnam Style.

• Jul 27, 2012

  The Summer Olympics open in London.

• Aug 6, 2012

  NASA's Curiosity rover lands on Mars.

• Oct 22, 2012

  Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record by diameter, begins nearly two weeks of destruction that leaves 233 dead.

• Nov 6, 2012

  Barack Obama is reelected president of the United States.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Cartier Juste un Clou Bracelet, Diamonds (18k gold) is number 63 of 100 in the jewelry entries of the FLOAT 100. 44 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (43 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The plain and diamond classic bracelets are both 3.5 mm wide at size 17; the diamonds add stones, not bulk.
• In September 2025 the diamond classic rose 12.7 percent in the U.S., more than any other Juste un Clou bracelet reported.
• Cipullo designed his nail collection within twenty-four hours, he said, after a sleepless night reading about Christianity.
• A circa-1971 Cipullo nail bracelet set with about 2.75 carats of diamonds has been offered for $47,900.
• Lou Reed attended the 2012 New York relaunch party.