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Friday, May 25, 2007

A New Trend of the Old in Jewelry

Jewelry tends to be somewhat cyclical. Looks go in and out of fashion. A new popular trend is a rather odd one. Chainmail has come back into fashion.

One of today's popular styles of jewelry has its origin in armor. Chainmail is a type of Medieval armor that was designed to protect its wearer from piercing blows. While not a surefire protection against serious injury, the development of this relatively lightweight armor (compared to full plate armor) meant that men in battle could move more freely while still protecting themselves. Today, the patterns used in making this armor have been translated into interesting jewelry pieces.

Chainmail is also called mail, or maille, and it refers to a pattern of interlocking metal rings that are woven together in order to create an impenetrable garment. It is not the term that is used for the actual armor or garment, rather, chainmail refers to the weave of the chain rings used to create the garment. The earliest examples of chainmail armor date back to the 4th century BC, although historians believe that the process of weaving metal together and wearing the armor may date to even earlier.

Chainmail is created by using metal rings, or links, that are created out of wire that was fashioned from wrought iron. The wire would have either been drawn through smaller and smaller openings (while hot) in order to create the correct thinness, or hammered out. Then, rings would have been formed. Before the 14th century, most chainmail was made of solid rings (that were fused together) and riveted rings. The riveted rings would have been opened, put onto the solid rings, and then closed and riveted together.

Today, this same method is used to make jewelry as well as modern chainmail armor, but different materials and techniques are used. The most traditional way of weaving together chainmail is to use a 4 in 1 pattern, where four rings are joined to a center ring. Most chainmail workers today use preformed rings, which have a split. These are pried open, and then fastened together, without riveting. The preferred metal used today is aluminum, which is lightweight (good for costuming or jewelry) as well as available in many different colors.

Places such as Renaissance Faires and other medieval reenactment societies are often the best place to find chainmail jewelry – many of these places will have little “shops” or craftspeople who are willing to make you a custom piece. If you want to show your love of the Middle Ages but don't want to wear armor, chainmail jewelry can make a great statement.