Ferroniere

A History of the Ferroniere

Excerpt from the dissertation "A Detailed History of Jewelry and Lapidary: How Cultural and Philosophical Mores Influenced Our Adornments" by the High Lady Auvyra Vonnalaiel, Second Daughter of House Vonnalaiel of Illistim, Master Jeweler.

Chapter 10: Ferronieres

Origins

With the exception of the Aelotoi and the Half-Krolvin, all Elanith's races have developed, at times independently, a version of a forehead-centered gem suspended from a chain, generically termed a ferroniere. Due to their other-planar enslavement, it is obvious why the aelotoi did not develop this jewelry. Half-Krolvin present a trickier situation, but one theory is that enslavement and isolation kept them from being exposed to what some believe to be the root cause for this jewelry style: the forehead gem.

Rare and elusive, forehead gems possess unusual properties that allow them to adhere without benefit of chains to the wearer's forehead. True forehead gems number in the scant hundreds and surface only rarely in society. There are documented sightings of forehead gems¹ thousands of years back, and some cultures attribute them supernatural powers and qualities. The mystique, therefore, yielded a desire. The desire yielded a product: ferronieres.

Generally speaking, any gem on a chain² designed to be held at the center forehead is a ferroniere, and the term's origins are lost to antiquity. Despite onerous research, no one has ever discovered exactly when the word "ferroniere" appeared, nor where the term itself originated. From the forehead gem-inspired ferroniere, however, we have some racially and culturally specific versions which we can delineate.

Whether inspired by the mystical forehead gems or by fashion, the myriad examples of chained forehead jewelry are fascinating. Many people, regardless of culture or race, will choose a ferroniere fashioned to their own choosing rather than be limited to the specific variations described below. Thus, a human is equally, if not more likely, to wear a ferroniere rather than a seer-stone, for example.

Racial and Cultural Variations³

Seer-Stone

In the Kannalan Empire, wandering bands of gypsies and other fortunetellers adapted the mystique of the forehead gem by chaining an oval-cut gem they called a seer-stone, meant to represent their "third eye of inner vision." The seer-stones were alleged to enhance precognition, but no verifiable powers have been recorded. Ladies in the Empire adopted the seers' jewelry which influenced any number of others, and the seer-stone has gone in and out of vogue with the humans ever since. Any oval-cut gem suspended length-wise upon a chain as if to form a third eye would be considered a human empire-styled seer-stone.

Geldaralad

High Lady Kysandriana Vonnalaiel is credited with the creation of the first elven ferroniere. Illistim nobility, she came in contact ⁴ with a traveling troupe of gypsies and thus with the seer-stone. Upon returning to Ta'Illistim, the lady commissioned her jeweler to make one. Her jeweler, one Zishryth Aielel, hailed from the courts of Ta'Nalfein where he crafted extraordinary jewelry for nobility⁵. A master jeweler the likes of which are rarely seen, he presented her with a gift worthy of a queen, a rose-cut cerulean glimaerstone incised with a vaalin-filled star at its heart. The glimaerstone was suspended from a twisted vaalin chain inset with minute flecks of complementing violet feystone. He named it a geld-aradlaiel, literally meaning "seer-stone" but it was quickly shortened to geldaralad, "stone of truth." Kysandriana's geldaralad outshone all other jewelry at a solstice masque that year, and soon, all the ladies of the nations were clamoring for one. To be a true geldaralad, and not the generic ferroniere, the chain must be twisted vaalin, but beyond that minor limitation, variety abounds. Of course, fashion often takes precedence over tradition, so many elven women will prefer a ferroniere with their metal of preference.

Ferrigem

Burghal gnomes residing in the Elven Nations saw the geldaralad sweep like wildfire across the cities, and, being ever fond of gems, they tried to create their own version, termed the ferrigem. While obviously a conflation of "ferrioniere" and "gem," it is uncertain why the gnomes blended ferroniere instead of geldaralad. Original ferrigems were crafted from pilfered bits and pieces, so the metal links rarely matched, and the gems were always slivers and shards, creating a piecemeal chain and gem concoction. Most ferrigem chains had at least one or two gears or gadgets interwoven into the links for no apparent cause other than they were discarded bits of metal that could be used. Thus, per Burghal gnome tradition, inexplicable as it may be, a ferrigem must have mismatched metal links and at least one tiny metal gear or gadget somewhere in the chain or used as the gem setting. While the pieces of ferrigems rarely need to be stolen any more, it is tradition to at least make the ferrigem look as randomly piecemeal as its ancestor, and Burghal men take pride in presenting their loved one with a true ferrigem even to this day.