Scottish Jewelry

Scottish Jewelry

 

Sterling silver Scottish jewelry and Irish jewelry are overlapping types of jewelry, a sub-genre of Celtic jewelry.

 

In many cases Scottish jewelry and Irish jewelry are the same. Their are two types or Scottish symbols that are exclusively Scottish jewelry. Those two items are the Scottish thistle and the Scottish Luckenbooth charms.

 

Scottish Luckenbooth Charms

 

In a way, the Scottish Luckenbooth charm is a Scottish version of the Irish Claddagh. But there is much more to it than a simple and incomplete comparison. Let's look into the history of the Luckenbooth charm.

 

Luckenbooth is a Scottish name for a jewelry store. It was sometime in the 1500's when shops in Edinburgh Scotland sprouted up. They were the first permanent jewelry shops in Scotland.

 

 

There was a certain style of a Luckenbooth symbol that started out as a brooch. It was often an emblem given to the bride by the groom on the wedding day.  As tradition has it, that same brooch was pinned on the shawl of the first baby born to that couple for good luck.

 

Elements of the Luckenbooth charm, as it is now used, resemble some of the elements of the Irish Claddagh symbol.  Like the Claddagh the Luckenbooth came to be used as a love token or symbol.

 

The Luckenbooth charm shown just below and the one above are two examples of a Scottish Luckenbooth charm. They are a great part of Scottish jewelry.

 

 

 

 

These two Luckenbooth Scottish charms and the Scottish thistle charm shown below are a the part of Scottish jewelry that separates the Scottish jewelry from Irish jewelry.

This sterling silver Scottish necklace is made from a Scottish thistle which is Scotland's national symbol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scottish ThistleScottish national emblem.

One can argue of original meanings of Celtic symbols but what matters most is what connects to the wearer of these rich Irish symbols. Celtic Knot: Symbolic of connectedness, continuity and eternity (no beginning, no end).

 

While there is disputation over the meaning behind the Celtic knot symbols one thing everyone agrees on is that the Celtic knot and other designs are now a classic.