Antique jewelry glossary

Welcome to our extensive antique jewelry glossary with around 1,500 jewelry related entries.If you feel you are missing an explanation, feel free to let us know and we will add it.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z     all

Perfume jewelry

Articles of jewelry made with a small receptacle for some substance, e.g. musk, ambergris or perfume that emitted a pleasant scent. Some earrings, necklaces, and bracelets were made of beads for containing perfume, and the pomander was made especially for such purpose. Such articles were popular in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Two sets of such jewelry were owned by Mary, Queen of Scots. The French term is accoutrements de senteurs.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson