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Bracelets
A bracelet is an article of clothing or jewelry, which is worn around the wrist. Bracelets can be manufactured from cloth or metal, and sometimes contain rocks, wood, and/or shells. Bracelets are also used for medical and identification purposes such as allergy bracelets and hospital tags. In the late 1980s, "snap bracelets", felt-covered metal bracelets that curved around one's wrist when gently hit against it, were a popular fad.
Nike and Lance Armstrong popularized the recent use of colored silicone rubber as a material for producing sports bracelets through the Yellow Livestrong band. Its success has led to the use of these 'awareness' bracelets as low cost tools for information campaigns and charity projects. These sports bracelets are also known otherwise as 'baller id bands', 'wristbands' or 'baller bands'.
The in-line thin diamond bracelet that features a symmetrical pattern of diamonds is called a tennis bracelet. According to Diamond Bug, in 1987 Chris Evert, the former World No. 1 woman tennis player and the winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, was playing in the U.S. Open. She was wearing an elegant, light in-line diamond bracelet, which accidentally broke and the match was interrupted to allow Chris to recover her precious diamonds. The 'tennis bracelet' incident sparked a new name for the item and sparked a huge jewelry trend. Tennis bracelets continued to be worn by various tennis stars like Serena Williams and Gabriela Sabatini.
Although the term 'armlet' may be technically similar, it is taken to mean an item that sits on the upper arm. The origin of the term 'bracelet' is from the Latin 'brachile' meaning 'of the arm', via the Old French 'barcel'. Taken in the plural, bracelets is often use as slang for handcuffs.
Wristbands
Wristbands are encircling strips worn on the wrist, made of any of a variety of materials depending on the purpose. The term can be used to refer to the bracelet-like band of a wristwatch, to the cuff or other part of a sleeve that covers the wrist, or to decorative or functional bands worn on the wrist for other reasons.
One common type of wristband is the loops of plastic or tyvek that are placed around the wrist for identification purposes (demonstrating the wearer's authorization to be at a venue, for example).
Silicone wristbands
More recently, wristbands, often made of silicone, are worn to demonstrate the wearer's support of a cause or charitable organization, similar to awareness ribbons. Such wristbands are sometimes called symbands to distinguish them from other types of wristbands.
One of the first charitable organizations to make use of silicone wristbands as a way of demonstrating support for a cause was the yellow Livestrong wristband created in 2004 by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. By early 2005, symbands became popular with many charities, such as Make Poverty History and the BBC's Beat Bullying campaign.
There is also another type of Wristband called Web band. It is an online version of the real wristband.
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