What is ‘real’ jewellery?

Value and authenticity

What is ‘real’ jewellery?

Updated Jan 8, 2024

A recurring question I get is whether a piece of ethnic jewellery is ‘real’. Usually, that does not refer to its use, but to the components used: shouldn’t this be coral instead of glass? Why does this necklace include plastic? And the reasoning behind that, in turn, is that glass and plastic are cheaper, economically speaking, and thus of lesser importance. But economic value is not always the main factor in determining whether a piece of jewellery is ‘real’.

Value of jewellery: supply and demand

Economically speaking, the age-old law of supply and demand dictates value. The discovery of new sources or changes in demand can significantly impact the value of a given material. When demand exceeds supply, prices rise, and materials become more highly regarded. Those are the basics.

Anything that people want and is in short supply, is valuable, whether it is Hermès bags or diamonds. Both of these are kept in short supply artificially: there’s a limited number of bags made and the diamond supply is actually vast, but carefully guarded. [1] So, from that point of view, components in jewellery that are readily available (and thus cheaper) are less valuable.

Value of jewellery: peer pressure

There is also the matter of what we want that has a serious impact on how certain materials are regarded. We may not only want something because it is rare, but we may also really want something because we see other people, who we’d like to associate ourselves with, wear or own that something. (basically, that is what influencer marketing is all about)

Take the decline in silver jewellery in North Africa and Southwest Asia after the 1960s for example. When oil was discovered in the Gulf, this new field of work created a huge amount of jobs for migrant workers from across the region.

Those workers returned home with new values and new ideas on how to express wealth, as they had seen during their stay abroad: gold. Silver jewellery was regarded as old-fashioned and was massively sold off to buy new, gold jewellery.

Value of jewellery: new technologies

Technological developments also have a significant impact on the choice of material, and this is where notions of value begin to get blurry.

A great example from Europe is strass jewellery. Strass, also known as rhinestone or paste, is nowadays often looked down upon. It’s not a ‘real’ gem, it is literally glass that is treated to look like a real gem. Many people associate strass with glitzy gaudiness, maybe with cheap jewellery, and perhaps even with bad taste.

But the fascinating thing is that when strass was just invented (by a Mr. Stras, in the 18^th century), it was actually held in high esteem. It was not thought of as a mere substitute, it was the real deal in and of itself and up until the 1820s was considered as actual high-end jewellery art. [2]

The same holds true for the use of bakelite in traditional jewellery of North Africa and Southwest Asia, as I have written about here. It may look like a cheap substitute for coral to us today, but back in its own day this was the height of innovation.

Value of jewellery: more than economics

So you see how the blurring of the line between natural and synthetic materials challenges traditional notions of value, and more precisely, how it illustrates that we should consider materials not just from an economic point of view. Equally important are their own cultural context and their own timeframe.

Because when we observe jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia in its own cultural context, and sometimes even in its local geographical context, we see a different notion of value.

Value of jewellery: cultural and spiritual value

Materials and components that we would consider insignificant based on their economic value are strung alongside gold, pearls, coral and other precious materials. Apparently, these components carry the same level of meaning.

Red plastic beads can happily sit next to coral beads because they are both reddish in colour. Aluminium is the material of choice for anklets worn by ritual specialists in Sudan, and iron is the only material that will keep jinn away (why? find out here!). Teeth, thorns, pebbles, pieces of bone and other such materials need to be sourced in a very particular place that is believed to be imbued with magical capacities (see more about that here): they are set in silver or gold with the same care extended to actual gemstones.

Economically worthless materials may hold great value – they are real

‘Real’ elements in jewellery do not have to be the most expensive ones, but somehow, that is how we have come to look upon them. If a piece of jewellery holds components of a ‘lesser’ economic value, we question the entire piece.

And of course, we should always be aware of reproductions or imitations designed to dupe: I wrote down 5 tips to help you recognize reproductions here. But when we look at jewellery in its cultural context, the choice of materials may reveal a lot about personal, local and societal preferences. And that in itself is more valuable than an arrangement of ‘perfect’ elements could ever offer!

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Where to find more on the cultural values of jewellery…?

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References

[1] You will enjoy Aja Raden’s book Stoned, which dives into the value of precious materials. Be advised though that it contains a number of historical, factual inaccuracies – but the line of reasoning is fascinating.

[2] P. von Trott zu Stolz 1982, Stras. Simili-Diamantschmuck des 18. Jh., p. 113. Antique paste jewellery is getting expensive these days, too.

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Sigrid van Roode

Sigrid van Roode is an archeologist, ethnographer and jewellery historian. Her main field of expertise is jewellery from North Africa and Southwest Asia, as well as archaeological and archaeological revival jewellery. She has authored several books on jewellery. Sigrid has lectured for the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Turquoise Mountain Jordan, and many others. She provides consultancy and research on jewellery collections for both museums and private collections, teaches courses and curates exhibitions. She is not involved in the business of buying and selling jewellery, and focuses on research, knowledge production, and education only.

Rings as amulets

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Magic & Amulets

rings of power

The Magic of Rings

Updated Jan 1, 2024

If there is any piece of jewellery that has been associated with magical powers, it has to be the ring. Rings carry a lot of meaning, and a lot has been written about Classical and European rings: how about rings in North Africa and Southwest Asia? Can a ring be an amulet? In this article, I’ll show you 5 ways rings can work as amulets.

Rings on our fingers

Rings are very prominent items of jewellery. They sit on our finger, where they are visible to both ourselves and the people around us. They can be used to attract attention or to show off riches, but at the same time their presence is very personal, felt on our fingers by our every move.

And that is an even more important symbiosis: rings move along with every gesture of our hands. As such, they are almost active jewels. This symbiosis is of influence on the placement of rings on the finger.

In Oman, a pointed ring is worn on the index finger: it reminds the wearer of her daily prayer. But in Morocco on the other hand, the index finger is left unadorned for precisely the same reason. [1]

That is always something to bear in mind: just like any other form of informal ritual, the magic of rings differs from region to region and also over time.

Ring power: sealing

The significance of rings is reflected in the Arabic word for ring, khatim. Originally, this referred to a seal. That brings along that symbiosis again: when the wearer seals something, they will need to move both their hands and fingers, as well as the ring itself. The ring becomes an inextricable part of that act.

In everyday life, this seal would be an engraved seal with the owner’s name, or a pious text. In magic, it could be a particular design that was assumed to hold power, such as the seal of Solomon or magic squares.

This practice of wearing rings with images or texts that were considered powerful, was already widespread in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. In that respect, rings with inscriptions are a continuation of a practice that is millennia old.

Ring power: inscriptions

Over time, the use of rings for sealing was joined by inscriptions that were not meant to seal: they are legible when worn, instead of engraved in a mirror image.

Engraving a text in a ring would enhance its efficacy: Edmond Doutté, when writing about North Africa in the early 20^th century, mentions a spell to attract prosperity in business, which needed to be engraved in a ring. When worn, this would lead to an increase in profit. [2]

So, a ring was something to seal with, but also something that held power of its own.

Ring powers: shape

That is also due to its shape. A ring has no beginning and no end, it is the perfect symbol for eternity and cyclical events. That makes it the perfect symbol for, for example, love and friendship, or to designate a space.

But because of their power to encircle, in some cases rings were believed to do more harm than good. That works along the same lines as knot magic. Just like anything knotted (see more about that here), pilgrims to Mecca were advised not to wear rings on their person. [3]

Ring power: material

The material of which a ring was made, contributes to its power, too. Iron is believed to keep evil at a distance as jinn are afraid of it (see more here on conflicting views on iron and adornment), and silver was the material of the Prophet’s own signet ring. [4] Besides the ring itself, materials used in its setting were also chosen for their properties.

A ring set with a carnelian stone was believed to bring continuous blessings to the wearer [5], and the three varieties of a stone named yaqut were believed to protect against the plague when set in a ring or a necklace. [6]

Here, the power of the material chosen to be set in a ring is combined with the power of the ring itself, and of course of the image or text engraved in that material. Rings are not simply carriers of powerful images or texts, but the entire ensemble including the ring itself is a threefold agent of protection and power.

That is also why many sorcerers and magicians are said to carry signet rings, and rings feature in magical tales [7]: in the 1001 Nights, it is a ring that binds a jinn to do as the owner of the ring commands. [8]

Ring power: magical creating

Making rings could also be part of the process that imbued them with special powers. Not only should they be created on a particular moment in time (often calculated based on astrology, see more on that here), but instructions to make rings could also include specific acts to be carried out, such as slaughtering an animal or incensing the finished product. [9]

Ring power: hard to get

And finally, notably the powerful rings are associated with vivid tales on how hard it is to actually get your hands on them. There are many tales in which rings travel long distances or find themselves in seemingly impossible situations.

The trilogy around Lord of the Rings is even based on all these difficulties, and notably on the hardships in destroying that one ring. Tales like these are also found in the Islamic world. King Solomon’s ring was stolen from him, and after many adventures was found inside a fish. [10]

Rings as amulets: a tradition of millennia

There is power in rings: in their shape, their material, their colour, the process of making them and the journey of obtaining them. Rings have fascinated us for thousands of years, and now you have a little more background on why!

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Find out more about the histories behind amulets in the e-course on Amulets and Magic in Jewellery!

Or start by downloading the free e-book on amulets and jewellery here.

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References

[1] See my book Desert Silver; in prayer, the index finger is pointed upward.

[2] Doutté, E. 1909. Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord, p. 264.

[3] Doutté, E. 1909. Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord, p. 88.

[4] See Iafrate, A. 2016. Solomon, Lord of the Rings: fashioning the signet of power from Electrum to Nuhas, in: Al-Masaq 28:3, pp. 221-241 for a discussion of the material of the Ring of Solomon.

[5] Doutté, E. 1909. Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord, p. 84, see also Porter,V., Saif , L.and E. Savage-Smith, 2017. Medieval Islamic Amulets, Talismans, and Magic, in: Flood, B. and Necipoglu 2017. A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, p. 543.

[6] Content, D. 2016. Ruby, Sapphire & Spinel: An Archaeological, Textual and Cultural Study, p. 18-19, discussing the Stone Book of Aristotle which dates back to the 9^th century. This lapidary is not by Aristotle, but has been composed in the Middle East. The varieties of Yaqut are ruby and two varieties of sapphire.

[7] Gunther, S. and D. Pielow, eds, 2018. Die Geheimnisse der Oberen und Unteren Welt, p. XXII

[8] Idem, p. 405 and 407, referring to the story of Aladdin.

[9] Porter,V., Saif , L.and E. Savage-Smith, 2017. Medieval Islamic Amulets, Talismans, and Magic, in: Flood, B. and Necipoglu 2017. A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, p. 522-523, discussing an example from the Arab Middle Ages.

[10] Doutté, E. 1909. Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord, p. 157.

Sigrid van Roode

Photography: 5 tips

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Tips for collectors

how-to tips

Quick photography of ethnic jewellery: 5 tips

Updated Jan 8, 2024

So, you’re in a shop or a souk, surrounded by jewellery, and you’d love to make a few reference snaps? Or sitting at home, staring at your collection and wondering where on earth to begin…? How to take good photographs of ethnic jewellery with your smartphone?

Here are 5 tips to make good photos with your smartphone, whether it be if you plan on documenting your collection or to add a few reference images to your photo library!

1) Photographing ethnic jewellery: use a plain, neutral background

That should not be a total surprise – but you’d be surprised to see how many people photograph jewellery against a printed background!

Choose a clean and uncluttered background that won’t distract from the jewellery itself. A plain white or black background often works well, but actually any dark, deep colour works, as long as it allows the jewellery to stand out.

How to do that on the go? This is where your trusty scarf comes in (a useful accessory, anyway!): it does not matter much if it is wrinkled, enough contrast will allow editing programs like Canva to remove the background. It will have to be a plain scarf though, a busy paisley-print is not what you’re looking for.

Bonus tip: a black, plain scarf also works miracles in museums, to block the reflection of lighting on the showcase. For this, you will need a travel companion to hold up the scarf behind you as you photograph the showcase. Be prepared to meet with more than a few puzzled glances, but it works!

2) Make your jewels shine: use natural light or soft lighting

Natural light is ideal for capturing the true colors and details of the jewellery. Position your setup near a window or use diffused artificial lighting to avoid harsh shadows and reflections.

Obviously, there is only so much you can do in a shop, but asking to see a piece near the door or a window will already improve the light.

Very Important Bonus Tip: check if you are not in between the light source and the object. In other words: when your phone (or your head) casts a shadow over the object, the resulting photo will be less than stellar. By which I mean: bad.

3) Photographing ethnic jewellery: use a tripod if you can

To ensure sharp and clear images, use a tripod to stabilize your phone. There are nifty tripods for smartphones available that fit into your handbag.

If you don’t own one of these, create an improvised setup with whatever is at hand: I have placed my phone on top of larger bracelets, coffee tables, or a stack of books. Anything that allows you to keep the phone steady does the trick.

4) The best ethnic jewellery shots? Don’t forget to take close-ups!

Jewellery is often intricate, so it’s important to get close-up shots that highlight the details, like hallmarks, filigree, enamel, or perhaps even cracks and dents. For this, you’ll need a tripod or other form of stabilizor.

Bonus tip: photograph the backside, too. Even if it is plain and boring.

You’ll never know when it may come in handy – I have had to fly out to Vienna to check the reverse side of jewellery items because someone forgot to photograph them…

5) Use an indicator of scale to tell bracelets from rings

This can be a proper scale, of course, or a simple ruler. If you find yourself without such a useful device (they fit in your wallet), take something else of a known size: your businesscard, a coin, your lipstick…

Place it close enough to relate to the jewel you’re photographing, but leave some space to edit it out if you’d like to use your photos later.

This is seriously essential: sometimes I get asked to identify a piece of jewellery from a photo, and I can’t for the life of me figure out whether I’m looking at a bracelet or a ring. (I suppose that may be the single advantage of the paisley motif on your scarf under tip number 1 above – but still, it’s not enough to use it)

And finally…

Remember to always ask permission first before whipping out your phone to photograph!

Some shops may have restrictions or guidelines in place for photography, so make sure to respect their policies.

That also goes for exhibitors at a jewellery fair or other pop-up location. I usually also specify what I want to use the photos for: ‘study purposes’ is something else than ‘I’ll be sharing your jewellery with nearly 20,000 people on social media, is that ok?’ (for most it is, if you clearly credit them – but not for everyone!).

All of this is of course very different from professional photography (see more about that here), but with these quick tips you can photograph jewellery on a basic, but absolutely very useful level!

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Intricacy and doves

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Objects

A bracelet from tunisia

Intricacy and doves

This is the first installment in the series ‘Objects in Detail’: what stories does this Tunisian bracelet hold?

Silver bracelet from Tunisia, showing two registers with engraved doves.

What do we see? This is a silver bracelet from Tunisia. Its name is swar, which means ‘bracelet’, and it comes from the region of Médenine and Tatouine. [1] First, let’s look at what we see. It has a beautiful and elaborate decoration: a raised, horizontal band divides the bracelet in two halves, and on each half three large panels are visible. The central panel shows an intricate geometrical pattern, and on the two side panels a sweet dove looks at us. The panels are separated by a small decorated vertical band, and the panels with the doves are bordered by a horizontal band above them. When you look closely at the central band, you will see its decoration is worn. That also goes for the upper rim, which has become thinner and smoother. That tells us that this bracelet has been worn regularly. It would have been part of a bride’s dowry, and by the looks of it, she loved wearing it!

Reading the bracelet: the engraving. Like almost all jewellery, the decoration on this bracelet is not just pretty: it is supposed to do something. The intricate pattern on the central panel is designed to confuse evil. [2] Complexity always is meant to achieve that goal – apparently evil is easily distracted. Give it something shiny and it will focus on that, confront it with complex patterns and it will lose its way and forget it was coming for you. I wrote a little about that in this blog post on knots – these do the same thing. The doves, rendered here in a super cute form, are called asfur, and feature on many pieces of jewellery. They are bringers of good luck and blessings [3] and so this bracelet does two things: it keeps evil at a distance, and attracts good fortune for the wearer.

Look beyond the jewellery Jewellery is meant to be worn, not to be admired as standalone object. It is first and foremost directly related to the body, and placing it there can have the location of engravings making even more sense. If you consider for a moment how this bracelet looks when worn (imagine it on your wrist) the central panel is what stands out. This is what you see first, and that makes it the perfect place to add a first line of defense against any forces that might wish the wearer harm. That same principle works outside of jewellery, too: in the image above you’ll see an intricate design around the window of a Tunisian home. This works in exactly the same way: any and all evil that might want to enter the house will get stuck in the maze of lines. The same principles apply to both jewellery and other things you want to keep safe.

…and even further This bracelet is from Tunisia, but it tells us more about its wider cultural family. And it does that through its shape. The same basic lay-out, a manchet with a central raised band, is found all over North Africa. The design into six panels is also visible, for example, on a pair of bracelets shown above. They were made in Cairo, and worn in Siwa oasis as well as Libya. While the individual details vary and are usually typical to a region, the main lay-out is similar. This in turn places jewellery in a wider cultural perspective. As I wrote earlier, the borders present on the map today are relatively recent. These bracelets reflect the transnational cultural identity of the Amazigh people, and their permanent exchange of ideas, languages, people, and things across the trans-Sahara network of trade routes. [4]

So here you see how a bracelet can share so much, ranging from the individual woman that once wore it to the region of the continent she lived in: jewellery is a historic source!

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References

[1] Baclouti, N. (no year), Les Bijoux d’argent de Tunisie. Office National de l’Artisanat, p. 180-181, also Gargouri-Sethom, S. 2005, Les Bijoux de Tunisie. Dunes Editions, p. 107. Please note that as this is transcribed from Arabic, you will find the same name spelled as ‘suar’, ‘souar’, ‘suwar’, ‘aswar’ and ‘iswar’ (and probably a few more varieties of this). See more on how that works in this blog post.

[2] A parallel piece with identical geometrical designs can be seen in Gargouri-Sethom 2005, p. 106.

[3] Gargouri-Sethom, S. 1986. Le Bijoux Traditionnel en Tunisie, Edisud, p. 97

[4] Gargouri-Sethom, S. 1994, Les Arts Populaires en Tunisie, Agence Nationale d’Exploitation du Patrimoine, p. 89, mentions how in the south of Tunisia, jewellery closely resembles that of Libya.

Sigrid van Roode

Binding magic in jewellery

by dr. Sigrid van Roode | Magic & Amulets

keeping it together

Binding magic in jewellery: pins

Updated Jan 28, 2024

The most mundane, everyday things can be transformed into magical objects simply by analogy, and that is what makes this form of magical activities so relatable. Fastening something is one of those acts that can carry a deeper meaning, and the object that goes with it becomes important, too. And clothing pins, also known as fibulas, are perfect for that goal!

Pinning a fibula: the magic behind it

This is basically a specific form of binding magic, where pins to keep clothing together gain a different meaning.

I talked about the magic of tying and girding in another blog post, and pinning your clothing together works along the same lines. The clothing pins that are used to keep fabric together, can be transformed into very powerful magical objects when they are used in ritual.

The analogy is of course very clear: a clothing pin holds two separate pieces of dress together, and so it would also be very useful in rituals to keep persons together.

When you fasten a fibula (see how to do that here), you actually have to carry out a number of steps: it does not close automatically by itself. And that is where the magic is, in those acts of deliberately fastening…clothing pins are the perfect object for love-magic!

Fibula magic in ancient times

The Romans already used their pins or fibulas (the Latin word is still in use to indicate these pins) as such. Some 2,000 years ago, you could buy an inscribed fibula to present to a lady: it would say something like ‘Hello, gorgeous!’, or, if you were bolder, ‘mix yourself with me’ – I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what they meant by that!

The point is that the fibula would work as a magical tool. [1] Once the lady in question would pin her clothes with it, it was hoped your relationship with her would immediately grow stronger.

Some 1,000 years earlier, three imported bronze fibulas were left behind in a shallow pit on the edge of a moor in The Netherlands. They were a gift to the gods, or whatever beings were believed to inhabit that place, and they were a precious gift, too.

Those fibulas were imported from Scandinavia and did not form part of traditional dress in what later would become The Netherlands: a treasure worthy of the gods. [2] You’ll see it in the collage below.

Gloomy photo of a swamp with a Bronze Age jewellery hoard

Fibula magic in North Africa

In a different world and a different time, fibulas have a very similar protective power. In Morocco, clothing pins are considered powerful because their sturdy pin has the power to harm the evil eye, a meaning also found widely in the rest of the Maghreb. [3]

Many shapes on fibulas are designed to attract good fortune and to keep evil at a distance, while their triangular form alludes to the powers of the number 3 (see more about the magic of numbers in this blog post). Fibulas are also the perfect piece of jewellery to attach amulet boxes to, which would be suspended from either the fibula itself or from the chain between them.

But here as well, their importance as something that holds to halves together, shines through.

The fibulas are part of the dowry, given to the bride by her husband and his family, and here the magic of pinning reinforces the bond between both the husband and wife and their respective families.

Adorning the bride with her jewellery, including fastening her fibula set, was part of the transformative magic in Libya, which would accompany the bride during her transition from unmarried girl to married woman. [4]

Belt buckle magic in Europe

And that power of fastening is found as a theme in other parts of the world, too.

Belt buckles function in much the same way: they, too, hold something together. As such, it became very popular as a form in European rings from the 17^th century onwards. The belt buckle symbolized eternal love and loyalty – even beyond death, which is why you will also find it in mourning rings. Together with the shape of the ring itself as an endless cycle, the belt buckle firmly connects two halves for all eternity.

Pinning, fastening, closing: magic in adornment

So whether it is clothing pins or belt buckles: by fastening something, humans have tried to influence the natural course of events for millennia!

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Find out more about the histories behind amulets in the e-course on Amulets and Magic in Jewellery!

Or start by downloading the free e-book on amulets and jewellery here.

More posts on jewellery and amulets? Browse them all here!

Join the Jewellery List and receive new articles, jewellery news and more in your inbox!

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References

[1] Peter Wells notes that fibulas in Europe’s prehistory, when they are depicted, are always shown ‘open’, and wonders if that has something to do with magic: nothing is definitive yet, nothing is sealed, the future is open. Wells 2012, How Ancient Europeans Saw the World, p.111.

[2] I wrote about these in Bos, J. & S. van Roode 2019. Landschap vol Leven. BLKVLD Uitgevers Publishers.

[3] Cynthia Becker, Amazigh Textiles and Dress in Morocco. Metaphors of Motherhood, in: African Arts vol 39 no. 6 (2006), p. 44

[4] Elena Schenone Alberini, Las mujeres Libias en la litteratura oral. Ritos de paso y roles de genero, in: Orafrica no 6, 2010.

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