The Appeal of Equestrian Jewelry
Horses have symbolized speed, grace and power for people since they were first domesticated. Nobody knows for sure when that happened but it is generally accepted to have been around 4500BC. Certainly, horses were in widespread use by 2000 BC. It's safe to say that, as long as people have had horses in their lives, someone has been creating jewelry with an equestrian theme. There is a picture of a spectacular Etruscan wall panel from around 400 BC on the Equestrian Jewelry Hub.
The earliest piece of actual jewelry in the sense of something intended to be worn was a greek gold coin made into a pendant. It has a horse and rider on it and dates from around 350 BC. There is a picture of it available on the Equine Jewelry Blog.
The one thing for certain is that as long as people have loved horses they have been wearing representations of them as decoration. Equestrian jewelry is an attention getter, a conversation starter and a way for the wealtier denizens of society to flaunt their status, as well as advertise their passion for horses.
Materials
The most obvious material used for equestrian jewelry is gold, either cast or carved. Silver is, of course, the other main material used. Nowadays an artist will produce a piece in gold and then duplicate it in silver for customers with a more modest budget. This is especially true of cast jewelry where the molds can be reused. Silver duplicates of gold pieces generally cost around 10-20% of the price the original cost. Personally, I like the look of silver and going this route gives you the form and mass of the gold representation without the high price tag. This is an excellent way of getting started collecting horse jewelry without having to sell the farm.
Although most gold and silver work nowadays is cast, in earlier times the most common jewelry technique was building objects of gold or silver wire by soldering. This is called filigree. It is often lacy, but it is possible to produce more solid pieces using this technique, as this representation of a horse and buggy illustrates.
Ultra-modern Materials
The only truly new medium I have heard of for jewelry making is a plastic technique using something called polymer clay.
When I first saw the name, I presumed the material was some sort of a mixture of clay and plastic. In fact it is pure PVC (poly-vinyl chloride). The word clay in the name refers to the fact that it resembles clay and can be handled using the same techniques of moulding and sculpting. Color can either be inherent in the beads used, or it can be added in later.
In the example on the left, they have managed to give the appearance of Kowrie Shell, in my opinion one of the most beautiful natural materials for the production of jewelry.
For most jewelry afficianados, if there isn't gold or silver involved it isn't really jewelry. Yet, if beauty and wearability are the criteria jewelry produced with polymer clay definitely satisfies the definition. Best of all, because it is a mass-produced material jewelry made from it is very economical.
I discovered this material when I came across the polymer clay jewelry website. They have agreed to consider adding some equestrian themed jewelry to their product line. If they do create some horse jewelry I'll publish information about it right away.
