Antique jewelry glossary

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Spiral armlet

A type of armlet (or bracelet) made in the form of a long coil of flattened, narrow, gold band extending along the arm in three to six or more loops. Some gold examples of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan jewelry, 4th/3rd century BC, terminate at each end with a serpent's head. Some Chinese examples from the Sung Dynasty (960-1279) and later into the Yüan Dynasty (1260-1368) were in the form of such spirals extending in six or more loops, having the end loops fastened to the neighbouring loop with wire.

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