Tanzanite Byzantine Bracelet

The inspiration for this bracelet appears in many books on Byzantine jewelry. While taking a course in Madrid, I had the good fortune to see it in person at the National Archeology Museum. The piece was made as a "votive crown" that would have been suspended over a statue, likely in a basilica. Its design reveals many clues to its history. The patron is recorded by the letters hanging below the crown: King Reccesvinth. Reccesvinth was a local Visigothic king of an area in Toledo Province, Spain from 649-672. This gift to the church would have demonstrated the King's piety and his submission to the church.  The arrival of Islam in Spain in 711 put pressure on Christianity and  is likely why this and other votive crowns and precious artifacts were buried. Together they are referred to as the Guarrazar Hoard. The hoard was discovered in an orchard between 1858 and 1861. Today it resides in three different museums in Madrid and Paris and represents a high point in Visigothic or Byzantine goldsmith's work. 

The original crown was made with sapphires from Ceylon. Imagine the journey they made from Ceylon, or modern day Sri Lanka, to northwestern Spain in the 7th century! I have made this bracelet with tanzanites and diamonds.