What is a hair bracelet?

A hair bracelet is a band whose central section consists of the plaited or knitted hair of the deceased person. The hairwork is mounted with gold end caps, a central locket or a mourning clasp. The technique was perfected in the eighteenth century by French cheveliers and enjoyed its international heyday between 1840 and 1880 (see Hairwork). Today hair bracelets are still made by a handful of specialised workshops worldwide.

What modern variants of the mourning bracelet are there?

Three principal variants dominate the modern market. The leather bracelet with a relic setting - a discreetly kept leather bracelet with a tiny gold or silver capsule holding ashes or a strand of hair (see Ash Pendant). The gold bracelet with a fingerprint element - a plaque or pendant bearing the fingerprint of the deceased person, worn on a fine chain (see Fingerprint Pendant). The bead bracelet with a remembrance bead - a single bead incorporating ash substance, combined with further beads of onyx, freshwater pearl or gemstone.

What sizes are usual?

Usual wrist measurements lie between 16 and 21 cm. On rigid bangle bracelets the internal width must exceed the wrist measurement by about 1 cm so that the piece passes over the hand. Plaited hair bracelets and leather bracelets often have an adjustable fastening; link bracelets are fitted to the exact measurement.

Mourning Bracelet

The mourning bracelet is a remembrance piece worn at the wrist which became popular in the nineteenth century as plaited hairwork or as a jet link bracelet, and which lives on today as a leather bracelet with a relic setting or a fine gold bracelet with a remembrance element.

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