Vintage 1ct Diamond Tennis Racket Necklace

What It Is

This isn't a necklace you'll find on a shelf at the mall. Aurate's vintage program, developed alongside Louis Martin Jewelers (a New York institution since 1978), sources preowned fine jewelry specifically for pieces that have aged well — good bones, real character, nothing generic. This tennis racket necklace is exactly that: 14k yellow gold, 1 total carat of diamonds set in a racket silhouette, on an 18-inch chain. It's a novelty motif executed in serious materials, which is a harder combination to pull off than it sounds.

The Case For Buying Vintage

Vintage fine jewelry exists in a different category from new. The gold has already been refined, the diamonds already cut — buying it instead of new is genuinely one of the lower-impact ways to own fine jewelry, and Aurate is right to lean into that. More practically: vintage pieces at this price point tend to show craftsmanship you won't find in contemporary mass-market jewelry. The proportions, the setting work, the weight in hand — these things are often better in older pieces precisely because they weren't optimized for a price sheet.

The Louis Martin authentication matters here. This isn't Aurate eyeballing something and calling it vintage — Louis Martin has been dealing in fine jewelry and watches on 47th Street since 1978. Their sign-off is the kind of provenance that holds up.

The Design

A tennis racket rendered in pavé or channel-set diamonds is the kind of thing that sounds gimmicky until you see it done well — and at 1ct on 14k yellow gold, this one has enough material weight to read as jewelry first, novelty second. Yellow gold is having a legitimate moment, and warm metal against white diamonds is a combination that ages well. The 18-inch length sits at the collarbone on most people, which is exactly where a statement pendant wants to live.

What to Know Before You Buy

This is final sale, full stop. Aurate's lifetime warranty — which covers their new pieces — does not apply here. If something needs service, you're calling Louis Martin directly (212-245-5566), not going through Aurate's standard support flow. That's not a dealbreaker, but it's a different ownership experience than buying new.

As a preowned piece, it may show signs of wear. Aurate is honest about this, and we appreciate that — it would be easy to bury that disclosure. Some buyers will find the patina appealing. Others will want pristine. If you're in the latter camp, this isn't your piece.

There's also only one. When it's gone, it's gone — no reordering, no size options, no alternate colorways. That's the nature of curated vintage, and for the right buyer it's a feature, not a limitation.

The Price

Three thousand, three hundred and ninety-eight dollars is real money. At that price, you're paying for the diamonds, the 14k gold, the authentication, and the curation — not a markup on mass production. Whether that math works for you depends on how you think about jewelry: investment, heirloom, self-expression, or some combination. For a sport-motif necklace with this provenance, it's a fair ask.