Chris Evert documentary revives the tennis bracelet trend

Netflix’s Chris & Martina: The Final Set, which premiered at Tribeca on June 10 and began streaming today, is pushing the tennis bracelet back into the conversation as more than a relic of court-side glamour. The film traces Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova’s decades-long dominance of women’s tennis and a friendship even cancer couldn’t upset, a story with enough name recognition to turn one piece of jewelry into a shareable fashion cue again.

The bracelet’s power has always rested on the moment that made it famous. During the 1978 United States Open, Evert’s diamond bracelet came off in the middle of a match and play stopped so she could find it, an incident that helped turn the style into mainstream jewelry shorthand. Britannica says De Beers later capitalized on the fad in the 1980s, sealing the tennis bracelet’s place in the diamond market as a slim, continuous line of stones rather than a single statement piece.

Evert’s own career gave the object its permanence in fashion memory. She turned professional in December 1972, won her first professional tournament in March 1973, retired in 1989 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995. Her rivalry with Navratilova ran for 80 matches between 1973 and 1988, and each woman won 18 major singles titles. Those numbers matter because they explain why this documentary carries more than nostalgic weight: it revives two names that still define an era, and with them a piece of jewelry that was never just decorative.

That is why the tennis bracelet is surfacing again in contemporary styling conversations. Tiffany describes tennis bracelets as enduring, versatile pieces and notes that the design was originally worn by players on the court. The category has always worked best when it feels precise rather than flashy, a disciplined ribbon of diamonds that can move from sports history to eveningwear without losing its edge. With Evert back on screen, the bracelet’s return feels less like a throwback than a reset, one more reminder that the simplest diamond line can still carry the strongest story.