Bracelet

Bracelet (through Fr. from Lat. brachium, 'the arm'), a personal ornament, of different materials, worn on the arm, generally at the wrist. Bracelets and armlets (Lat. armillæ) have been used by almost every nation, both savage and civilised, from the earliest periods to our own. In the text of the Old Testament there are three different words rendered by 'bracelet' in our authorised version. One of these probably means an armlet worn by men (Num. xxxi. 50, 2 Sam. i. 10); the second was a bracelet worn by women, and sometimes by men (Gen. xxiv. 22, Ezek. xvi. 11); the third a peculiar bracelet of chain-work, worn only by women (Isa. iii. 19). That referred to in 2 Sam. i. 10 was an ornament that belonged to the king, like those famous armlets with their splendid diamonds which now form part of the regalia of the kings of Persia, and which are said once to have belonged to the Mogul emperors of India. The ancient Medes and Persians were remarkable, even amongst Asiatics, for their love of ornaments of this kind; and they were worn in Europe by the Gauls and Sabines. They do not seem to have been worn by men among the ancient Greeks, but Greek ladies wore both armlets and bracelets of the most various materials and forms. Some of these went round the arm twice or thrice, and a favourite form was that of a serpent. Many examples of this kind occur on painted vases. Amongst the Romans, armlets were not usually worn by men, but were frequently conferred upon soldiers for deeds of valour (Livy, x. 44). Roman ladies wore bracelets, not only for ornament, but also for the purpose of containing amulets, as it is said that Nero wore on his right arm the skin of a serpent, inclosed in a golden armilla. Some of the early armlets of Scandinavia and Germany were evidently worn more for defence than ornament.