A Necklace is a form of jewelry worn suspended around the neck. It is most commonly made in flexible forms such as a chain, as a string of beads, pearls, gemstones, or other natural materials, or made of a more inflexible band of metal embellished with gemstones, pearls, beads, or other techniques such as engraving, filigree, repoussé, granulation, for example. Lengths of necklaces vary, and specific types related to extremes in length range from a short choker or dog collar necklace that fits right around the main portion of the neck to a long neck chain or string of beads called a sautoir, sometimes worn hanging down to or past the waist.

Symbolic Meanings

As with other pieces of jewelry, the Copper Zircon Necklace has been an important site of decoration for the body but also of communication for the person. As a valued material culture, necklaces communicate wealth, power, affiliation, prestige, levels of resources and skill, and elements of identity and position. The durability of jewelry like necklaces made of metal, glass beads, or gemstones provides an opportunity to appreciate and understand the technology, cultural practices, artistry, and aesthetics of other cultures and distant time periods.

Early Necklaces

A simple necklace made from a string of local organic materials such as shells, teeth, or bone beads is one of the forms of jewelry adopted by early cultures around the world. More precious materials from farther away were also valued for early Stainless Steel Necklaces, frequently in the form of beads, such as those of Mediterranean red coral found in a Neolithic burial in the Alps (circa 4200-3400 B.C.E.). Other early types of necklace included the torc or torque, an ancient Celtic neckpiece made of twisted metal, and the lunula, a flat, crescent-shaped and engraved variation of the torc found in Bronze Age Ireland and Scotland (circa 1800-1500 B.C.E.)

Bracelets, cylindrical-shaped ornaments worn encircling the wrist or upper arm, have been one of the most popular forms of ornamentation since prehistoric times. Incredibly varied, bracelets are a universal form of jewelry. Historically and culturally, they have been worn singly or in multiples by both genders. Bracelets have been used for protective and decorative purposes, in rituals, and to indicate one's social status.

Materials

Materials for bracelets are innumerable. People from all cultures across the globe have used indigenous or imported materials, man-made, and natural materials to make them. While the majority are made from metals, they also have been made from insect secretions (such as lac), rattan, wood, feathers, tortoiseshell, horn, teeth, tusks, feathers, leather, and stone. Man-made materials include glass, faience, enamel, ceramic, and plastic. Ancient Egyptians used bone and pebbles, adorned with finely worked beads and pendants of jasper, turquoise, alabaster, lapis lazuli, cornelian, and feldspar. In Eastern cultures, folk jewelry was often made of horn, brass, beads, and copper, while more expensive and finer quality Copper Zirconium Bracelets were designed of mother-of-pearl, gold, and silver. Skillful jewelers in China were able to make bracelets cut from a single piece of jade. In India, the patwa (jewelry maker) often creates bracelets from braiding, knotting, twisting, or wrapping yarns made of cotton, silk, wool, or metallic fibers.