Pendant

A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word pendere and Old French word pendr, both of which translate to "to hang down". In modern French, pendant is the gerund form of pendre ("to hang") and also means "during". The extent to which the design of a pendant can be incorporated into an overall necklace makes it not always accurate to treat them as separate items.

A pendant is a piece of jewelry worn around the neck or wrist. This jewelry can take many forms and be made of materials such as precious metals, precious or semi-precious stones, but also more common materials such as plastic or wood. The only requirements the jeweler must meet are the need for a hole or a ring in order to hang the item from a chain, and a reasonable mass so that the item can be worn. 

In some cases, though, the separation between necklace and pendant is far clearer.

Overview

Pendants are among the oldest recorded types of bodily adornment. Stone, shell, pottery, and more perishable materials were used. Ancient Egyptians commonly wore pendants, some shaped like hieroglyphs.

A pendant is a piece of jewelry that is intended to be worn on a necklace or neck ring. The pendant is attached to the chain by means of a fixed or movable pendant eye. For a movable eye, a second eye is needed, the passage of which is perpendicular to the body. The actual pendant or pendant body is located below this eye.

The pendant body can be further divided into a part that serves solely for decoration and the actual subject. Pendants can be hollow or solid. Completely solid has the advantage that the pendant pulls the chain nicely tight, it is less likely to dent and that the pendant can be felt as well as seen. The disadvantage is the weight.

Pendants can be made of all kinds of materials, besides the traditional silver and gold, doublé, base metals, plastic, wood and glass are also used. In the case of non-precious materials, the aesthetics lies in the quality of the plastic used and in the shape. The size of a pendant can vary from 0.5 cm to 10 cm or more. Above 10 cm, one is more likely to encounter plastic jewelry than gold or silver, because the appearance of the latter materials makes the pendant seem extra large. Since the nineties, it has also been common to sell smaller pendants due to the safety risk of jewelers.

Subjects of pendants are religious (Mary, cross with or without corpus), symbolic (heart), astrological (zodiac pendants, of which Virgo is an example), own name, name of loved one or initial. Name pendants also occur in the version, in which a pendant eye is made on the left and right and the pendant is included as an enlarged link in the chain. In addition, pendants without symbolic connotation occur; these contain only a motif, for example interlocking circles.

Aesthetics when wearing: a pendant looks best when no other pendants are worn with the chain, no other chains with pendants, certainly no other pendants that fall over the first one. In addition, a dark background, sweater of beautiful fabric, gives a nice contrasting effect. The mobility is increased by wearing the pendant on a chain over a turtleneck.

Pendants can have several functions, which may be combined:

Award (i.e., Scouting Ireland Chief Scout's Award, Order of CúChulainn)

Identification (i.e., religious symbols, sexual symbols, symbols of rock bands)

Ornamentation

Ostentation (i.e., jewels).

Protection (i.e., amulets, religious symbols)

Self-affirmation (i.e., initials, names)

The many specialized types of pendants include lockets which open, often to reveal an image, and pendilia, which hang from larger objects of metalwork.

Types

Throughout the ages, pendants have come in a variety of forms to serve a variety of purposes.

Amulet

Though amulets come in many forms, a wearable amulet worn around the neck or on the arm or leg in the form of a pendant is the most common. These are objects believed to possess magical or spiritual power to protect the wearer from danger or dispel evil influences.

Talisman

Similar to an amulet, a talisman is an object believed to possess supernatural traits. However, while an amulet is strictly a defensive object, a talisman is meant to confer special benefits or powers upon the wearer.

Locket

A locket is a small object that opens to reveal a space which serves to hold a small object, usually a photograph or a curl of hair. They typically come in the form of a pendant hanging from a necklace, though they will occasionally be hung from a charm bracelet.

Medallion

A medallion is most often a coin-shaped piece of metal worn as a pendant around the neck or pinned onto clothing. These are generally granted as awards, recognitions, or religious blessings.

Painting

Pendant is the name given to one of two paintings conceived as a pair. They usually are gift from couples and some cultures consider the act of giving one a marry proposition.

Functional pendants

Tools worn as pendants include Maori pounamu pendants. Shepherd's whistles, bosun's whistles, and ocarinas can also be made as pendants. Portable astronomical and navigational instruments were made as pendants.

In the first decade of the 21st century, jewellers started to incorporate USB flash drives into pendants.

Fashion pendants

Fashion pendants include a small creative piece often made from precious or non-precious stones and metals like diamonds or pearls hanging freely from a chain or necklace. These are generally worn as a statement piece or a fashion ornament.

Other types

Harness pendant

Sourced from Wikipedia