Jewelry That Is Made From The Hair That Grows On Your Head!

Jewelry is so very personal and it usually has a story attached to it. Remember the heart charm your first boyfriend gave to you? It meant more to you then anything else you could think of. Or the moonstone pendant from your sister, before you left to live in another country at the other side of this planet.... Your grandmother, who gives you her strand of real pearls that she got from her mother. Priceless treasures, you will never get rid of them and if they could talk, well, I would love to hear the story of the pearls.

One of the reasons I got into jewelry is just that, that jewelry is so personable, every piece of jewelry has it's own story. In my jewelry, one of the things I design and make is up-cycled vintage jewelry and I wish these vintage pieces could talk like the pearls, because they must have some stories to tell us.

Mourning Brooch, From Europe Or The U.S.A., Ca. 1845

 One style of jewelry definitely tells us stories and that style is mourning jewelry, it was seen everywhere in Victorian times. The most popular style of mourning jewelry, was hair jewelry. Real jewelry pieces, made with real hair from the deceased.

Death was much more accepted during these times, as it happened so much more then it does today, with Western Medicine and much better hygiene. Mourning jewelry was quite common.

 It is symbolic that it was Queen Victoria herself that made hair jewelry so very popular. When Prince Albert died in 1861, (her husband who was also her first cousin...) she wore a brooch with his hair over her heart and did so until the day she died. She also gave the  Empress Eugenie of France a bracelet made from her hair, as a gift. All this made mourning jewelry and jewelry with hair very popular.

A Gold And Enamel Mourning Ring, Ca. 1855

There are two types of hair jewelry, pallet worked and table worked. Pallet worked is flat and the hair is displayed under a crystal, as in a brooch. Table worked hair jewelry is made on a braiding table. A series of weights and bobbins which feed through a hole in the center of the table, create a three dimensional chain. These pieces may be made over a wooden or brass mold and then boiled to set the different shapes. Some hair jewelry is just absolutely stunning, it is a real art.

Queen Victoria continued mourning in her private life. She wore black clothes only as well as only black mourning jewelry. During these Victorian times, when a mother would lose one or more of her children, she would wear the hair of her children, braided and under glass, as a ring, a brooch, a pendant or a bracelet. The same for women who lost their husbands, usually in battle.

However, hair jewelry should not be confused with mourning jewelry only. Hair jewelry has been with us from the beginning of time. In an era before photography, hair was the most personal token one could bestow on a loved one who may be traveling far away. Eventually these locks of love were set into rings or lockets and such. 

Mourning Jewelry or fashion statement, I can't think of a more personable piece of jewelry then one made out of the hair of a loved one.

An Example Of Table Braided Hair Jewelry, Popular During Victorian Times.

Reference: Wikipedia and Grand Oak Plantation.

The Slithering Serpent In Jewelry, From Then 'Till Now.

Snake Bracelet, 1940's

The fact that the snake has wriggled its way into so many new fine jewelry collections for 2015 and now continuing in 2016, is proof to our enduring fascination with the often dangerous but mesmerizing serpent. It is perfect for jewelry and in fact, the picture above (Snake Bracelet, made by Venetian jeweler Giulio Nardi in the 1940's, he used gold, enamel, ruby's and diamonds) is proof of the beauty of this serpent's jewelry. A beautiful start for this post!

Animals have been part of jewelry since it's beginning, but no animal has the staying power like the snake does. Now it is true that the snake's movement and it's supple body makes it ideal for jewelry, as it slithers around your wrist, fingers or neck, quite often shown eating it's own tail. You will find the snake in fashion jewelry as well as in fine jewelry.

Sutra snake ring in black gold with 
5ct of sapphires and diamonds.

Snake jewelry depicting a serpent eating its own tail - the so-called  Ouroboros - has been worn for many centuries, and versions of the motif are still incorporated into fashion and fine jewelry designs today.

The slithering serpent has been a popular motif in jewelry since ancient Greek and Roman times. For the Celts, the snake represented secret knowledge while, for the Romans, it was seen as a guardian spirit and symbol of eternal life.

The Victorians adored snake jewelry and its popularity reached fever pitch after Prince Albert proposed to Queen Victoria with an engagement ring in the shape of a snake, set with her birthstone: emeralds. Victoria saw it as a symbol of never-ending love, the story is, that she was buried wearing the snake ring.

The emerald serpent ring not only started a craze for snake jewelry, but also ignited the trend for giving engagement rings. Before long, snakes were being worn by fashionable ladies all over America and Europe, as rings, bracelets, brooches and hatpins. Following the death of Prince Albert in 1861, snake jewelry took a more sombre turn with the introduction of black materials such as jet, vulcanite onyx or ebony, occasionally set with diamonds or colored gemstones, including garnet, amethyst or ruby.

The desire to wear snake jewelry continued into the Art Nouveau era with it's naturalistic movement. During this era, French jewelers would use enamel while making snake jewelry, making the jewelry more attractive again, using the enamel's variety of colors.

Art Nouveau Style Ring, ca. 1900

The gilded snake has been synonymous with Boucheron jewelry for more than 700 years through the brand's signature Serpent fine jewelry collection. 

Bulgari Jewelry has also elevated the serpent to iconic status by incorporating it into jewels beloved by celebrities such as the late Elizabeth Taylor and actress Naomi Watts, who wore a Bulgari Serpenti necklace at this year's Golden Globes.

Whether coiled around a wrist or finger, or dangling seductively from the ear, the snake is a motif that continues to intrigue both designers and jewelry lovers. The snake has more then proved it's attraction and it's staying power in jewelry.

Reference: The Jewelry Editor

The Eleven City Tour, Will It Happen This Winter?

I wonder how many of you have heard of the Eleven City Skate Tour (the Elfstedentocht). This tradition is about as Dutch as wooden shoes and apple pie. Every winter, die hard fans are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that the temperatures will drop well below 32 degrees long enough, for the ice to be thick enough, so people can skate over the frozen rivers and canals that are connected by 11 cities and towns.  Measuring the ice, is an event in itself, it has to be exactly 6 inches thick, or more. The last time this happened was in the cold winter of 1997. This is almost 20 years ago. Lately, Dutch winters have been un-seasonably warm, thanks to global warming.

How did this tradition come about?

It was in 1909 that the first official Eleven City Tour happened. One of the founders, Pim Mulier, of this event had figured out the route in 1881 and he then did skate this route himself, but it wasn't until 1909 that it became a national event. The tour starts and ends in the city of Leeuwarden. The tour is about 125 mile long, with temperatures well below 32 degrees and with wood and metal skates, it was very hard to do. The winner of that first tour was Minne Hoekstra and it took him 13 hours and 50 minutes. There were plenty of frozen earlobes and toes all around!

After this first tour, there have been only 15 times up until now, that the ice has been thick enough for the tour. The second tour was in 1912, and it took the winner 11 hours and 40 minutes. The next one was in 1917 and after that it took until 1929, before another tour happened. In 1933 there were 2 winners with the exact timing of 9 hours and 53 minutes.

During the 2nd world war, the winters were famously cold and the war didn't stop the tours from happening in 1940, 1941 and 1942. After the war, the tour happened only 7 more times: in 1947, 1954, 1956, 1963, 1985, 1986 en 1997. 

This last tour one my uncles rode the tour (ome Ap), in 1997 and the winter was extremely cold. Temperatures were below 20 degrees and the windchill was about 0 degrees. With the modern skates of today, the winner finished the route in 6 hours and 49 minutes.

During any winter, when there are a few days of freezing weather, people and newspaper articles are starting to speculate if this winter will be the one where another Eleven City Tour will be possible. It seems like people enjoy the speculation more then the actual tour. Here below you see a video I found on youtube, with footage of the Eleven City tour in the very cold winter of 1963. I hope you enjoyed this little bit of history of my home country!