Handmade Beaded Gemstone Silver Leather Tribal Jewellery

Double Indemnity is consistently ranked one of the best films in the noir genre, bringing together the talents of Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray and Edward G Robinson for a complex, moody tale of deception and murder.

Insurance salesman Walter Neff's (MacMurray) fate is sealed the day he meets his wealthy client's young wife, Phyllis Dietrichson who seduces the hapless Neff to murder her rich husband in an attempt to cash in on a double-indemnity taken out against the husband's life.

And what is that seduces Neff into his lust and folly?  The sight of Mrs Dietrichson atop the stairs wearing nothing but a towel around her waist... and a golden anklet.

"That's a honey of an anklet you're wearing, Mrs Deitrichson"

The terms bangle and bracelet are often used interchangeably.  At Mochishop we house all our bracelets and bangles

under the same category.  But is there a real difference between a bangle and bracelet?  If so, what is it?

The terms "bangle" and "bracelet" have different etymologies.  Bangle is from the Hindi bangri which means ring shaped bracelet or anklet.  The word "bracelet" is from Middle French brachialle meaning armlet.

Possessing different linguistic roots, both words approximate different regional conceptions of the adornments in question.

The bracelet appears to have the more generic of the two definitions, encompassing anything which may be worn on the arm - though more commonly on the wrist.

Bangle, on the other hand, has more of a fixed form: It is ring-shaped.

The most important distinction that we may solicit, therefore, is that the bangle must be ring-shaped (i.e., always circular, always solid) whereas the bracelet can be flexible.

But more than this, the bangle implies a musicality that is not a feature of the bracelet.  Multiple bangles may be worn in Hindu culture - or in Western variations - where the bangles hit against one another producing a pleasant percussive sound.  This may explain the onomatopoeic quality of the word "bangle".

The fact that bangles are inherently solid dictates that they must be made from a finite range of firm materials.  As such we find wooden bangles, silver bangles and gold bangles.

Conversely, this is why we find bracelets made with a more diverse range of materials.  We can have leather bracelets, hemp bracelets or cotton bracelets, as well as silver bracelets and gold.

 

[for more dictionary definitions please see Mochishop's jewellery wiki]

Jewellery has a proud history in film - from the suggestive anklet of femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity to the recent Girl With the Pearl Earring.  Over the coming months Mochishop will take a look across cinematic history to assess the contribution made by jewellery to film.

We don't automatically associate a thimble as an item of jewellery [jewelry].  It is, after all, a protective shield worn when sewing. However, thimbles have been made with a variety of gemstones including diamond, agate and amber.  Those who collect thimbles are known as digitabulists.

It was in the 1996 romantic tragedy, The English Patient starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott-Thomas, that the thimble was actually used as jewellery.  In the heart-rending scene where Fiennes' character Almasy carries Scott-Thomas' character Katherine from a plane wreckage, with his gift of a saffron-filled thimble worn as a necklace around her neck.

Only at the ending of the film, as Katherine died, did Almasy learn that his lover had always kept his gift, always worn it as a token of their illicit and foredoomed love.

"You're wearing the thimble."

"Of course, you idiot. I always wear it; I've always worn it; I've always loved you."

Mochishop likes tribal jewellery [tribal jewelry].  We stock a huge range of what we call tribal, as this is among our design specialities.  But what exactly is jewellery which is "tribal"?

Tribal - in context of jewellery and accessories - is a term which is interchangeable - if not absolutely synonymous - with ethnic or regional.   In other words, we can agree that tribal jewellery has elements of design, material or craft which are exclusively local.  We feel that this a very important distinction, in a world where most things are homogeneous and mass-produced.  Few consumables we buy these days have any real identity.  And surely identity is exactly what we are looking for in a piece of jewellery.

In the first part of What Is Tribal Jewellery? we will give a few illustrations of the products we have which hail from the Eastern part of the globe -

At Mochishop we have, for instance, ox-bone jewellery.  Our ox-bone jewellery is decidedly Tibetan as the ox - or yak to be precise - is a domesticated beast of Tibet.   Consequently our ox-bone jewellery incorporates Tibetan designs and themes.  We have ox bone jewellery bearing Tibetan symbols, necklaces depicting Tibetan cosmology and pendants bearing the Tibetan spiritual chant om mani padme hum.

Many of our ox-bone designs are replicated in other materials.  You will also find Tibetan spiritual chants inscribed on our Tibetan silver ring necklace, and our bronze mantra pendant.

Moving westward from Tibet into China, we have a range of dragon jewellery as the dragon is an important part of Chinese myth and legend.  In true Chinese style, we have a jade dragon necklace as well as a dragon and phoenix bracelet.  Like the dragon, the mythical phoenix is an indelible part of Chinese folklore.  Often the dragon and phoenix are paired together as symbols of lovers, the masculine and feminine.

From Asia we go to Polynesia, from which we have introduced a brand new range of ceramic pendants with Polynesian signatures.  In this style we have both a green swirl necklace and blue swirl necklace.  Other tribal necklaces bear Polynesian god heads.

We hope we have given a clear illustration about what tribal jewellery is, and how it pertains to local culture, not global.  We also hope that you have enjoyed looking at some of our examples of jewellery which are made with Eastern motifs and materials.  Be they Tibetan, Chinese or Polynesian, there are plenty of styles for those who like the look of adventure and exploration.

In Part 2 we'll bring you examples of Mochishop Jewellery [jewelry] that has its origins in the regional cultures of the Western world.

You've found it! Mochishop's big New Year jewellery sale.  We are hosting the biggest and best online jewelry sale, so just pop into our sale shop and fill up your shopping basket.

With prices this affordable, we encourage you to take advantage of this sale.  Buy ahead for your friends' and family's birthdays - or even next Christmas.  Our jewellery will only be on offer for a short while - Take advantage now and you'll save a small fortune in gift-buying over the long run.

In Mochishop's Christmas Guide to Jewellery (part 1) we gave you some ideas for Christmas shopping to save you some of the precious time - and good health - that is lost running about the shops in the freezing cold looking for presents.

Mochishop's jewellery caters for both men and women, so there will definitely be something within our shop that you can buy for your loved-one, friend or... yourself.

We have ready-made jewellery gift sets [jewelry gift sets] with matching bracelets & necklaces or matching earrings & necklaces.  Our latest designs are two jasper necklace & bracelet sets which are extremely exclusive.  The first is made from red jasper, also known as poppy jasper and the second from green jasper, or Kambaba jasper.

These are really beautiful, handcrafted gemstone items. What is more is that they are extremely rare.  For this reason alone it is enough to make them the perfect Christmas present.

With regards to other ready-made sets that we have why not try our tribal necklace and bracelet?  This set is unisex and will be suitable for any man or woman who enjoys the outdoors or has an interest in ethnic or exotic jewelry, customs and culture.

But what about combining jewellery that isn't part of a set?  Easy, we'll give you our suggestions.

For a classic gift for her, try comibining any silver necklace with a silver bracelet. Throw in a pair of pearl and silver earrings and you have a quickly assembled, ready-made highly complimentary set.

In terms of matching colours, coral jewellery [coral jewelry] and turquoise jewellery [turquoise jewelry] always compliment one another.  The contrast of bright blue turquoise and fiery, red coral is a success.

Or how about mixing and matching from our colourful quartz jewellery [quartz jewelry] series?  As quartz subsumes many different colours (purple amethyst, yellow citrine), try some fun combinations.  For example, try an orange quartz bracelet, lemon quartz bracelet and purple quartz bracelet altogether.  Wear whichever colour suits your mood.

For guys, then why not go for any silver curb chain, match it with a silver necklace and throw in a pair of mens earrings? Simple.

And remember, once you have found the gift you are looking for, purchase a Mochishop gift box or gift bag for perfect presentation.

We hope you have found our Christmas guides useful and that we have given you plenty of ideas for gifts. We will look forward to receiving your orders and posting them out to you in time for the festive season.