Permanent jewellery is taking TikTok by storm: here’s what happened when I went to get a bracelet welded to my wrist

Sometimes taking the plunge and buying a piece of jewellery can be a big decision — so what about a bracelet that's permanently welded around your wrist?

Aoife Rooney having her bracelet welded together by Ryan Kelly at Heartbreak Social Club on Drury Street. Photo: Steve Humphreys

Aoife Rooney

Some jewellery is intended to signify permanence and commitment on an emotional level; engagement and wedding rings, friendship bracelets — there are plenty of ways in which the jewellery we adorn ourselves with can create a narrative about us as people. So what does it say about a person who opts to get a bracelet permanently welded around their wrist?

The service, which launched last month, and is appropriately named Chained, is a venture by Heartbreak Social Club in Dublin 2, and the first of its type in the country. Ryan Kelly, who owns the tattoo parlour with Ro Graham, first saw the concept in action in 2019, while working as a tattoo artist in New York. Kelly had been toying with the idea of introducing the service, and when the online craze was brought to his attention, he knew there was a clock ticking on the idea.  “When I saw how popular it was, I knew I needed to act now,” he said.