Traditional men’s jewellery

Traditional men’s jewellery

Karol Strelec

Jewellery has not been just a women’s domain. Being often produced in a specific manner, it played an important role within the male population, too. In Slovakia, there existed a rather broad variety of classical men’s jewellery. Their aesthetic values were not only high, the jewellery was also practical. In addition to rather rare and highly specialised craftsmen, it was predominantly academically untrained, self-taught individuals, especially blacksmiths, tinkers, workers in smitheries and those engaged if hand-forging, as well as bell founders, chief shepherds and shepherds, who produced men’s jewellery or embellishments. Making such products for themselves or for people living in their community, they followed old, time-tested techniques. A relatively wide variety of classical men’s jewellery could be, as far as its function is concerned, divided into two main groups. The first one is composed of jewellery having a personal character. Having been worn direct on the body, it served a protective or, rather, symbolic, meaning, although, in time, it was also aesthetic criteria that began to play an important role. It was especially rings, to a lesser degree bracelets and earrings, that belonged to this category. The second group comprised mostly utilitarian jewellery, directly connected to changes in clothing. These were various clasps, such as little hooks, shirt clips, belt buckles and beg buckles, cups, all sorts of clips, various decorative pins, as well as chains, straps and various hat embellishments.

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