On the National Day of Saudi Arabia, we would like to talk more about their diverse jewellery and its richness.

Saudi Arabia occupies a large space of land with geographical diversity and cultural diversity that have affected the traditions of each region in the country. Costume and jewellery are among the cultural aspects that have been affected. For example, how traditional jewellery is looked at in the northern district differs from how they are in the Western district due to many factors. It is also worth mentioning that urban areas used more sophisticated and expensive jewellery than the Beduin areas. 

The Bedouin women wore silver bracelets, necklaces, etc., or rings studded with semi-precious gems. You may even find jewellery from cheaper materials used back then, such as glass, plastic, and so on. Whereas women in the cities owned gold jewellery such as rings. Also, they possessed pearl earrings and sapphire necklaces. The reason for this difference is the fact that Bedouin women were afraid of getting theft, whereas women in the urban areas had a more settled, secure lifestyle.

The central part of the kingdom had less contact with outsiders, so their traditional jewellery was the production of pure local culture. While the northern parts of the kingdom had many well-refined gemstone jewellery in different styles than the rest of the kingdom due to being close to the areas that were famous for gemstones. The traditional jewellery in this area was popular with agate, coral, and turquoise. For example, the area’s most popular jewellery was the chokers that were fully made of agate, coral and turquoise.

The eastern district has been clearly influenced by Persian jewellery which can be clearly shown in the bracelet cum rings jewellery. It is a bracelet with a small chain connected to five rings that have tiny turquoise stones covering the whole jewellery piece.

The southern district has always been considered the home for jewellers and jewellery designers. It was the district where the finest masterpieces of jewellery were created. This area was affected by the Omani and Yemeni traditional jewellery styles. Most of the gold jewellery of the southern district had coins attached to the necklaces or bracelets alongside gemstones.

The most diverse district in the kingdom was the western province. Its diversity was due to the pilgrims who came from all different parts of the world. Many women used to sell their jewellery to get enough money to complete their pilgrimage trips. This had led to receiving different styles and designs of jewellery. For example, the silver cuff bracelet studded with turquoise was a remarkable result of this cultural exchange.

The history of jewellery in Saudi Arabia is rich, and talking about it takes days. As each district has a bunch of traditional jewellery unique to it, it kept changing over time. However, jewellery in Saudi Arabia is indeed diverse, unique and worth discovering.