What Are Pendants?

Pendants are hanging ornaments associated with jewelry, especially necklaces. It is rather customary to see a pendant attached to a chain necklace. The origin of pendants began most likely with the practice of wearing amulets around the neck in primitive times.

Egyptian pharaohs owned and wore pendants particularly large in magnitude and usually deifying some sovereign. In the Middle Ages, the pendant and the cross were devotional jewels characteristic of the period. In the first part of the 16th century, pendants were no longer considered religious pieces and instead became pieces of ornamentation or decoration.

Pendants in the Baroque era repeated the engraved figures and cameo cuttings. Designs included gems geometrically framed. Later, pendants popular through the 18th century consisted of ribbon and floral design set mainly with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls.

The purposes or roles of pendants are many. As stated, they are primarily used for ornamentation. They are also used for symbolic association as in religious pendants or rock band identification. They may be drawn upon for protection. Self declaration is also touted with pendants that make a statement with settings of personal initials. Jewel ostentation continues to be a popular use and pendants are also used for meritorious awards, including Boy Scout achievements and for other humanitarian efforts.

Today, pendants are fashionable, and for the many artists in the jewelry-making business, several available supply pieces in today’s market accommodate assembling and attachment of pendants to jewelry. An example is the bail, a metal loop used to attach a chain or cord to a pendant. The bail pendant mount can be bonded to a flat-backed surface to make the pendant. In addition, there is a brooch converter to change a brooch into a pendant. Styles are obtainable to modify either horizontal or vertical pins.