Is a bracelet an ornament or a necessity?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The first bracelets in the form of jewelry appeared in the Paleolithic era. The temptation of this accessory was explained by the material of manufacture. It could be wood, leather, stone, copper, gold. Excavations of Ancient Egypt showed that the remains of the titled pharaohs were full of jewelry, among which bracelets made of pure gold occupied not the last place.

Bracelets in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire

Actually, bracelets are ornaments worn for the first time on strong male forearms. They were revered in Ancient Greece and in other countries.

Later, Athenian beauties adopted the idea of decorating their hands with precious metal from the strong half. Interestingly, the Romans - both men and women - wore bracelets solely out of vanity. Among other things, this piquant decoration carried a certain function. For our ancestors, a bracelet was an indicator of status, which at the same time set off the beauty of graceful hands. The more expensive and refined the accessory, the higher up the social ladder was its owner.

Unrelenting interest in bracelets in ancient times was due to the fact that they were often engraved. Enamored warriors of the Roman Empire, having written their name or a declaration of love on the little thing, gave it to their beloved before going into battle.

Renaissance

However, interest in these jewelry almost died out in the Middle Ages, when rigor and long sleeves became fashionable. They were remembered only in the Renaissance. Translated from French, the name of the accessory means "wrist". For French fashionistas, a bracelet is an unpretentious piece of jewelry that has become a luxury item. Jewelers made an accessory from gold, and pearls were inserted on the sides.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, bracelets began to be decorated with various precious and semi-precious stones: corals, diamonds and woven gold ribbons.

Kuprin's story

From school literature, many probably remember Kuprin's touching story "Garnet Bracelet", which tells about the pure, tragic love of an ordinary official Georgy Zheltkov for a lady whom he once saw in a box and fell unrequitedly in love for life.

Vera Nikolaevna Sheina (that was the name of the princess) is the object of Zheltkov's love. For several years, on her own name day, she received love messages from a person who wished to remain anonymous. The husband of the princess and everyone around knew about this.

Kuprin, the last romantic of the nineteenth century, devoted his story "Garnet Bracelet" to love. The rarest selfless love forwoman. For her sake, Zheltkov is ready to give his life. And when Vera Nikolaevna inadvertently declares that her life would be easier if the admirer did not exist, Georgy Zheltkov decides to commit suicide - an unheard-of act for a believer.

But this death is not seen as a hopeless outcome of events, but as a heroic deed, which not everyone can decide, even for the well-being of their neighbor. In parting, Georgy Zheltkov gives his beloved a bracelet made of inexpensive gold and decorated with five large cabochon garnets, which surrounded one stone of a rare green garnet.

The garnet bracelet in Kuprin's story can be identified with the rarest, unique and beautiful love that was lost in a cheap setting.

Modern Accessories

Now the bracelet is a favorite accessory of the general population. At the beginning of the twentieth century, this decoration became more popular than medallions and various pins. They depicted bracelets in the form of snakes, scorpions, beetles, or made them in antique style.

Surely many people remember the scene from the movie "The meeting place cannot be changed", where actress Larisa Udovichenko incomparably played the swindler Manka-Bond, on whose hand was wearing an original bracelet in the form of a snake.

Modern fashionistas wear these accessories with any outfit, regardless of style. They make bracelets (photo attached in the article) from silver, gold with inserts from both precious and simple stones, shells, beads. The main component of fashiontoday is solely your own desire to wear what you want.

Oddly enough, but today bracelets are not only decoration. Many weather-dependent people put copper accessories on their wrists to reduce pressure, and monks living on Mount Athos, the most cherished for monks, make special bracelets from local plants that look like stone.

There are ardent fans of bracelets, there are their opponents, but in any case, these accessories emphasize the individuality of the owners.