With Jan. 1 in our rearview, we’re now looking ahead to a different New Year’s celebration: the Lunar New Year. This year it begins on Jan. 29 and is the Year of the Snake. In the world of fine jewels, just like in the Chinese zodiac, the snake has been a recurring motif.
Snakes have a long and varied history in fine jewelry, from the uraeus (a cobra) worn by pharaohs as a powerful symbol of royalty and divine protection, to a surge in popularity during the Victorian era—after Queen Victoria’s engagement ring turned the snake into a symbol of eternal love and commitment— to the 20th-century art nouveau movement’s embrace of the snake’s natural form in flowing, stylized designs, to contemporary designers who draw inspiration from the creature’s multifaceted symbolism, which includes duality (good and evil), transformation (shedding skin), wisdom, allure, and mystery.
Across cultures, the snake represents a complex mix of qualities. In ancient Greece and Rome, they were associated with healing, as seen in the caduceus of Asclepius—the intertwined snake that today is an emblem of the medical profession—and also represented wisdom, rebirth, and eternity. The ouroboros, a snake eating its tail, further emphasized themes of eternity and cyclical renewal.
We’ve rounded up a few fine jewels channeling the spirit of the snake, in honor of the Lunar New Year.
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