The Most Revealing Thing About Taylor Swift's Relationship with Travis Kelce Is Hanging Around Her Neck

In October 2020, Taylor Swift released Midnights, the album containing the haunting song You’re on your own kid. In this power ballad, there’s the lyric: “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.” Weeks later, the Eras tour was announced, and girls began making friendships bracelets and swapping them in a lead-up to the excitement of the event. By the time the tour commenced in March, the bracelets were being traded fiercely; aisles in Joann’s beading section were as picked over as a blackberry bush next to an elementary school. Then in July, football star Travis Kelce appeared on his brother’s podcast and talked about how disappointed he was not to give her a friendship bracelet with his number on it when he attended her concert.

And viola, the friendship bracelet days were coming to a close, bringing two new friends together in a love match. In the more-than-a-year that America’s cheerleader captain has dated the tight end football star, she’s released albums, conducted a record-smashing international tour, become a billionaire and left her fans and the world entertainment superstructure anticipating what’s next. And during this time, we fans have taken to inspecting everything about her for news: her newly sexed-up wardrobe, the couple’s increasingly relaxed body language, even their coordinating outfits.

But the real tell about Swift and Kelce? The story is all in the jewelry.

Small, shiny and valuable, the baubles each of them wear show who they are as people—and their priorities as a couple. After all, this is the guy who, when asked in February if he was thinking about giving his girlfriend a ring, said that only the SuperBowl ring was on his mind. And Taylor’s jewelry? She’s not sporting yesterday’s crafty bracelets—instead, when she appears with her man on her arm or her girl squad as wing women, she’s giving power vibes. She’s all about bold Roman coin jewelry.

Take, for instance, when she hit dinner back in November wearing a Ben-Amun necklace and bracelet combo with the bust of an ancient warrior emblazoned on it.

Or when she rocked an ersatz Italian coin alongside a corset in October.

Or perhaps this vintage 1970s necklace with a chunky gold rope around an actual gold coin, which she wore to the Chiefs/Ravens game in September.

Some of her pirate booty is antique and pricey—that vintage piece is one-of-a-kind and reportedly costs $12,750. But other pieces, such as her brass-and-crystal coin bracelet ($245) are more contemporary and affordable. In fact, the coin-shaped pendant she wears in the “I Can do It With a Broken Heart” video (she's rocking it with low-cut denim at 3:09) is still in stock at Awe Inspired.

So what does all this have to say about her relationship? Well, it speaks to her power both on her own (the above necklace is emblazoned with the goddess Goddess Rhiannon from Welsh mythology, who is “intelligent, politically strategic, beautiful and famed for her wealth and generosity”) and the joint power she shares with her partner. After all, her love match Kelce has a big rep of his own, what with playing on a winning team, dabbling in acting and maintaining strong ties to his family. And he’s got his own trophy bling, since he did bring home the hardware with a Superbowl ring. And interestingly, he’s got a little taste for luxury of his own—he wore a $975 Louis Vuitton Craggy Necklace on an October date night with Swift in which they snuggled in a box watching the Yankees play.