Antique jewelry glossary

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Rivière

Rivière, French for "flow" or "river". A type of neck chain or necklace that is strung with graduated gemstones of the same variety, usually individually set and without other ornamentation. Expensive examples were made with diamonds mounted in silver or platinum (as more harmonious than gold), but others were set with amethysts or other lesser gemstones, especially in the Victorian era.

Sometimes two such chains, one longer than the other, were worn together, called a 'double rivière'. Some especially luxurious examples have a similar gemstone suspended from each stone of the necklace.

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