A pendant is an ornament or gem suspended from a chain or strand. It can be a simple solitaire, a locket with a keepsake, a cameo, or a symbol that means something to you. The bail and chain carry the pendant’s weight, so both must be strong enough. This page covers the main types of pendants, what to consider when choosing one, and how to care for pendants, followed by some history and interesting facts. We can make any pendant to order, in gold or platinum, with or without stones or pearls.
Types of pendants
Solitaire pendants
A single stone, usually a diamond, hanging from a chain. The stone can be any size and shape; it’s often set in prongs but can also be bezel-set.
Three-stone pendants
Three stones of the same shape, usually with the largest in the center, as in a three-stone ring. They represent the past, present, and future of a relationship.
Lockets
A pendant that opens to hold a photo, a lock of hair, or another keepsake. In Victorian times, jewelry often held locks of hair from loved ones, living or departed.
Cameos
A design carved in relief, often a woman’s profile, that projects slightly from the background. Carvers use the layers of shell or agate so the design typically stands out pale against a darker ground; the ancient Romans were already making cameos.
Crosses, hearts, and other symbols
A cross, a heart, a star, or another symbol that means something to you, in plain metal or set with stones, pearls, or enamel. The Victorians loved motifs from nature, such as a cross of gold oak leaves with pearls for acorns.
Initials and engraving
A pendant shaped as an initial or a name, or a plain plaque engraved with initials, a date, or a pattern. An engraving can also go on the back of another pendant.
Slides
A pendant without a bail that fits directly onto the chain and slides along it. One example is a pearl with a gold cap.
Enhancers
A removable pendant that clips onto a pearl strand or a strand of beads to give it a different look. Take it off, and the necklace is as it was.
Bail and chain
A pendant usually hangs from a bail, a small metal loop that connects it to the chain or strand. The bail carries the pendant’s full weight, so it must be sturdy, and its opening must be large enough for the pendant to slide freely along the chain and for the chain’s end ring to pass through when you take the pendant off.
The chain’s width and thickness should suit the pendant: a chain that is too fine wears or stretches faster under a heavy pendant. To find out which chains suit a pendant, see the Chains page.
What to consider
A pendant is less exposed to wear and bumps than a ring or a bracelet, so it also suits softer and more fragile stones such as opal, turquoise, peridot, tanzanite, moonstone, and pearl.
Birthstones are popular: each month is associated with one or more stones, which makes a pendant with a birthstone a personal gift.
Where a pendant sits depends on the length of the chain (see Lengths on the Necklaces page). If you are choosing a pendant together with earrings, we select the stones or pearls for the set so that they match.
Care
Where the bail and chain rub together, the metal wears over time, so we check the bail at the annual inspection, along with the clasp and the stones.
Clean pendants with pearls, opals, or other delicate stones only with a soft cloth dampened with warm, soapy water, never ultrasonically or with steam. For the care of a particular stone, see its page on the Gemstones tab.
History
People have worn pendants for thousands of years, often as amulets meant to protect them. One ancient Egyptian carnelian pendant is about 3,500 years old. The ancient Romans carved cameos from chalcedony mined in Egypt and India.
In the Victorian era (1837–1901), jewelry was often sentimental: locks of hair were set into lockets, brooches, and pendants, and cameos and mourning jewelry of jet were popular. After Prince Albert’s death in 1861, Queen Victoria wore black for the rest of her life, and her long mourning increased the demand for mourning jewelry.
In the Art Nouveau period (1890–1914), pendants and lockets were made with flowing lines, enamel, opals, and pearls.
Did you know?
Cameo or intaglio? In a cameo, the design projects from the surface; in an intaglio, it is engraved into it. Intaglios were once used as seals, to press the owner’s mark into the wax that closed important documents.
A brooch that is also a pendant. Some brooches can also be worn as a pendant, such as a Victorian gold and pearl sunburst brooch with an amethyst at its center.
One of the most famous pendants. The 45.52-carat blue Hope Diamond is surrounded by 16 white diamonds in its pendant and hangs from a chain of 45 diamonds. It has belonged to the Smithsonian since 1958 and is on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
How we work
We design every pendant individually, adapting the shape, the stone, and the setting to you, and the bail to the chain you will wear it on. When we design a pendant in 3D, we show you the model before we make it, so you can see it from every side. We can engrave initials or a date on the back, and set a stone from inherited jewelry in a new pendant.