Tibetan Jewelry

Traditionally Tibetan are very fond of the jewelry. Every man and woman should have a piece of gold on their body. We believe it will enhance the spiritual power over the bad omens and evil spirits.  The primarily in jewelry components are gold and silver with the ornaments of precious stone. We not only use jewelry for oneself, but also on the statues of Deities and Buddha. Offering jewelry to the holy statues are often consider to generate lots of positive virtue for the donor.

Gold:

Gold is the number one choice for all our jewelry. We have a saying in Tibetan: we must have a piece of gold on one’s body to gain spiritual power over the negative omens and bad energy. You will often find our people wearing gold teeth. We believe having gold teeth helps prevent one from poisoning. You will also see us using a gold butter lamp and even decorating holy statues with gold.

Sliver:

We don’t use much silver on one’s body as jewelry, but we often wear silver jewelry for offerings to the gods in our chapels and temples. You will usually find our people using old Chinese silver coins as jewels and large silver belt buckles for the women in central Tibet, especially around the Mount Everest region of Tibet.

Thogcha:

Thogcha is the metal from tektites and meteorites, often high in iron content. We believe thokcha is formed naturally when a thunderbolt strikes the earth. It will be found by chance either on or under the ground by a lucky person. This is why having a piece of Thogcha is considered a good luck charm, and some old Thogcha items could be expensive.

All the pieces of Tibetan Jewelry will have parts of natural stone ornaments. Turquoise and coral are the most favored gemstones. Besides these two, we often use amber, lapis lazuli, jade, garnet, agates, rubies, sapphires, amethyst, and carnelian. Yak bone is used in jewelry making.

In the past, Tibet had a vast collection of gemstones, many of which traveled from far away and are a testament to ancient trading links for which no written records exist. Ivory arrived from India. Cloudy yellow amber came from the Baltic. Turquoise and agate were brought in from Afghanistan. Pearls and coral were traded from the Mediterranean. Glass beads were bought from India, China, and Eastern Europe.

Tibetan women must dress well and wear all the jewelry in the house during special social occasions. Having our women wear all the most elegant jewelry we can manage to purchase shows off the family’s position in the community. The majority of the Tibetan female deities wear jewelry. Having our wives and mothers dress elegantly with all the jewelry brings good luck and fortune for the family.

In the old days, wealthy families would put so many jewels on their women that sometimes they could barely move in the entire structure of the ornaments.

In Tibetan culture, women are considered the pillars of the house, and men are considered the outer walls. Women are responsible for looking after the child and the day-to-day activities of the house, and men are responsible for making money and working in the fields. Since men will have to do more work, they use less jewelry. Depending on the family, the most elegant jewel men would have to have an Amulet made of gold, silver, or ordinary metal.

All men should have a ring on their finger, which signifies adulthood. Many men will have gold teeth to prevent food poisoning; some may have to go far to earn a living for the family.

Eight Auspicious Symbols:

The Tibetan Eight Auspicious symbols are commonly used in all our jewelry. Having those symbols on a piece of jewelry will bring prosperity and happiness. Most of the time, we will use one of its eight symbols. However, for exquisite jewelry, the goldsmith may use all eight symbols on one piece of jewelry.

Mantras:

It is rare to see mantras used on jewelry, but some are using them. The most famous mantra used in jewelry is the OM.

Dzi Beads:

Dzi Beads can protect against natural calamities and evil spirits. The authentic Dzi beads can be traced back to the 2000s or the Indus River civilization. Since old ones are costly, people nowadays design their own gold and silver jewels.

Ritual items: Ritual items, such as a different kind of vajra, are often used in Tibetan Jewelry. In The Market, you can buy a lot of silver jewels made in the design of Tibetan ritual items.

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