The story of jewellery and sports is essentially the story of fashion and sports.
As personal style and branding have become more and more a part of playing the game (any game), everything an athlete wears becomes marketing – for themselves and for the brands that increasingly love, and contract, them.
Eye-catching bling included.
It’s not that different from the red carpet, where the jewellery worn by celebrities is as much a financial and promotional opportunity as a statement about taste.
Indeed, it’s not an accident that the tunnel walk in basketball and football and the on-court walk in tennis are known as the athlete’s red carpet.
“Sports culture has evolved,” said Brittany Hampton, a stylist who works with athletes like Sloane Stephens, Russell Westbrook and Paige Bueckers.
“Fans and brands now want personality, individuality and presence on and off the court, and the athletes know they can express that through fashion.”
It’s a way to capture a chunk of the attention economy.
Advertise yourself – especially important in team sports where everyone wears the same thing – and telegraph success. This is also why matters are even more extreme during events like the league drafts, when high-octane custom-made jewellery takes centre stage.
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But while there are practical considerations regarding actual performance wear, sports stars have more leeway when it comes to jewellery.
Though some leagues have rules governing the baubles that players may wear, most are safety-related and pertain to contact sports (the rules about wearing commercial logos are much more stringent).
The WNBA, for example, forbids all kinds of jewellery during games, as do the NBA and MLS. The NFL bans “hard objects” but doesn’t specify what those may be (chains and earrings seem to be okay).
In MLB pretty much anything goes, and recently it has become something of a trend among players like Miguel Rojas, Junior Caminero and Joc Pederson to take the idea of the “diamond” literally and wear Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra necklaces when they play.
During the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, sprinter Noah Lyles won the 100 metres in a diamond chain, and Quincy Hall won the 400 metres in a gold grille and gold chains.
In tennis there are no regulations about jewellery – not even at Wimbledon, which famously has a very specific dress code.
That’s how we get from Chris Evert playing in the US Open in 1978 wearing a thin diamond bracelet that reportedly gave the world the term “tennis bracelet”, to Emma Raducanu wearing more than US$37,000 (approximately RM146,700) worth of pearl and diamond Tiffany jewellery at Wimbledon in 2022 (she is a Tiffany brand ambassador).
Not to mention Aryna Sabalenka, who has become a face of the jewellery line Material Good and who wore its dangling diamond and sapphire earrings with a matching pendant necklace with a 4.3-carat sapphire at the center while playing in the Australian Open in January.
“It gives me a little more energy and drive,” Sabalenka said of feeling good about her look.
“I think that’s what I love about fashion, jewellery and accessories. You can still be feminine and stylish without sacrificing athleticism.”
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For their part, male tennis players generally wear their bling in the form of fancy watches.
Most forgo them while playing, though Rafael Nadal test-drove the Richard Mille RM 27-04 Tourbillon on court specifically to see if it could withstand tournament conditions.
And that’s why it will be interesting to see how the jewellery looks evolve at the French Open. Of all of the majors, the French Open has a reputation for being the most haute, fashion-wise.
Before the tournament, there were news about how Sabalenka was planning to wear custom designs by Material Good.
And she did. She was seen on the court on one day wearing three necklaces inspired by the red clay courts of the French Open. Talk about a match. – ©2026 The New York Times Company
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
