Specific Dutch regional jewelry

This type of necklace reminds me of the days when my interest in antique jewellery was just burgeoning. One of the first books, if not the first book, I bought was about jewellery that was worn with the specific local Dutch costumes. Until the beginning of the 20th century, in some Dutch villages, people were recognisable by their clothes and jewellery. In the Netherlands, many villages had their own costume. Only by looking at a piece of jewellery or clothing, experts can tell from which region people were, what faith they had, and even their marital status.

The type of necklace here is also depicted in that book and is made in Walcheren, Zeeland (the Netherlands). The closure is in 14K two-tone gold (red and yellow), and it has four strings of faceted garnet beads. The closure itself is skilfully embellished with one large and 24 smaller rose-cut garnets, plus six smaller garnets at the sides. Necklaces like this were worn by women of all ages as part of the "klederdracht" (local dress in its distinctive style).

Today, there are hardly any people left who wear the dress of this distinctive local style. While the younger generation no longer wears it at all, the older people wear it occasionally. In 2003, the last two men wearing the traditional clothing died, and most likely in another 10 to 15 years, no woman will be wearing it anymore either.

Click here to get to the descriptive page of this jewel.

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