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Permanent jewellery

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A very large gold necklace is in this photo. The ends of the arc are decorated with a huge ring on either side. The length of the necklace is made from a hand-twisted gold wire. The opening is much too small to fit a neck through, it would have to be forcefully bent open and closed to be worn or removed.
A Torc, a type of solid necklace that must be forcibly bent to wear or take off. They were worn for long periods of time.
A smiling woman wearing, blue, purple and white along with a matching graphic dress with cartoon bears on it. She has approximately 15 loops of a golden metal stacked around her neck, notably lengthening it. She has a tan skin-tone with dark brown hair. Her hat is made of layered cloth and looks like it was arranged by hand. She appears to have no other body modifications such as ear piercings.
A Kayan woman wearing traditional neck rings.

Permanent jewellery is a category of jewellery or adornment that is designed to be worn for long continuous periods, or cannot be removed without special tools like keys or pliers.[1] Another type is items that can be removed but the owner foregoes or is forbidden from removing. Permanent jewellery can have great personal, religious, cultural, or interpersonal[2] significance for the wearer. Some adornments are put on by the wearer but others are specifically placed on the wearer by someone else as part of a ritual or trust exercise. Other items of permanent jewellery require significant effort or skill to make and are placed on the wearer by the artist.

Indigenous cultures

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There are a number of indigenous cultures that include permanent jewellery in their practices. Examples include the neck rings and anklets worn by the Kayan people, and Torcs which come from various cultures. The brass rings of the Kayan people can be taken off but are usually only removed to add a new longer coil, to encourage stretching of the neck.

Religion

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A photograph of a hand and arm with a metal religious bracelet, commonly made of iron or steel. The hand pose is relaxed and the bracelet is simple, having a shaped but not decorated design.
A kaṛā worn on the right arm.

Sikhism

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This section is an excerpt from Sikhism § Initiation and the Khalsa.[edit]
Baptised Sikhs wear five items, called the five Ks (in Punjabi known as pañj kakkē or pañj kakār), at all times. The five items are: kēs (uncut hair), kaṅghā (small wooden comb), kaṛā (circular steel or iron bracelet), kirpān (sword/dagger), and kacchera (special undergarment).[3] The five Ks have both practical and symbolic purposes.[4]

Removal of the kaṛā is permitted by religious writing but in practice few remove the bracelet.[citation needed] Often it is put on at a young age and the bracelet becomes difficult or impossible to remove as the wearer grows. Kaṛā and the other four Ks are key to the Sikh faith and appear in the most common symbol for the religion.

Friendship, love, and marriage

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In this photo two elegant women are holding hands, they are dressed fancifully for marriage. One woman is using both her hands to place a wedding ring with prominent gemstone on the hand of the other woman. The woman doing the placing also has a wedding or engagement ring on her ring finger. The photo is contemporary but is stylistically in black and white for a timeless feeling.
A woman places a wedding ring on her wife at a marriage ceremony.
In this photo there are three fancy lockets, they are small and ornate, likely they are from a museum or private collection from the fancy photo and cloth they're on. None of them have chains attached so they are probably old and not currently being worn. They are made of precious metals. Two contain a light color of hair, either sunbleached, blonde, or greyed with age.
Three lockets, two containing the hair of a loved one. Lockets are usually placed on a necklace or sometimes a bracelet.

A common use of Permanent Jewellery is to show love to someone and give them a reminder of you while you're away. Lockets and friendship bracelets are usually able to be removed just fine but wearing continually is meaningful to some and seen as a show of gratitude and connection.

In 1969, Aldo Cipullo created the Love Bracelet which requires a special tool to open and close. He was quoted: "What modern people want are love symbols that look semi-permanent – or, at least, require a trick to remove. After all, love symbols should suggest an everlasting quality."[2] The tool itself, a screwdriver, is also available as a piece of jewellery to be worn by the person who gifted the bracelet.

Engagement rings and wedding rings are the most common form of permanent jewellery. Most people rarely if ever remove their wedding rings and it is common to bury people with them still worn. Some types of engagement rings are designed to accompany or complete the wedding ring once it is placed. The use of soft metals such as gold causes the rings to shape to the wearer over time, making them more comfortable to wear for longer periods and also sometimes making them harder to remove.

Some items become considered permanent jewelry by the owner even though removing them is trivial. A common example is continually wearing[5] the wristwatch of a deceased relative to feel close to them.[6]

Slavery

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A large gold bracelet that coils 2-3 times around the wrist is in this photograph. It is behind a display case perhaps at a museum. The bracelet has patterns on it including snakeskin, feather, and a section that is patterned. It contains about a pound of gold.
The Moregine bracelet inscribed "from the master to his very own slave girl" in Latin.

The slaves and concubines of wealthy tyrants were sometimes forced to wear permanently affixed jewellery like metal collars and bangles. This is a luxury version of the shackles, collars, chains, or cuffs that are typical with chattel slavery. The purpose of these adornments is to identify them as a slave, prevent their escape, and sometimes encourage their kidnapping and return to slavery. Many items of this type have been found by archaeologists,[7] including the Moregine bracelet.

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A up-close photograph of a beautiful femme smile, on a tooth just to the left of the front 2 teeth is a small star made of gold with a clear gemstone set inside. The star is much smaller than the tooth, maybe 1/9th as big. The lips are naturally pink and their skin-tone is pale. The photograph is bright as if taken outside.
A smile adorned with a tooth gem of gold and gemstone.
a photograph of a woman posing her feet in sandals. The sandals have red straps and she is wearing 2 toe rings. The rings are different and on different feet.
A lady wearing toe rings.

Newer examples of items that are only sometimes permanent include toe rings, medical bracelets, and dog tags. Some toe rings are shaped like a miniature open bangle, allowing the wearer to pinch it down to size for long-term wear.

Tooth gems are a semi-permanent jewellery that last months or years.[8][9][10] Usually made of gemstones, precious metals, and/or titanium, they are adhered to a tooth with the use of special chemicals.

Tongue piercings have a permanent aspect to them as the tongue heals exceptionally fast. If no piercing is in place, the hole can close up within days, or even minutes as it begins to heal.

4 golden chains are on display in this photograph, each one has a different style, on some all the links look the same, on others there are longer links between a section of short links.
Thin gold chains, similar to the type used in 2020-chic permanent bracelets.

In 2020, a viral trend of permanent chain bracelets took off. The thin metal chain lengths would be cut close to wrist size then welded together right on the wearer's arm leaving no visible clasp. It is only possible to remove these bracelets by breaking or cutting a link. The practice has existed since at least 2017.[11]

BDSM

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Photograph of the neck of a woman wearing a black leather BDSM collar with a leash and a lock. The lock is a standard one like for luggage. She has red hair and appears comfortable.
A BDSM collar with leash and lock.

Collars are often permanent jewelry. Many leather, silicone, and metal collars come with highly visible heart-shaped locks or special loops designed to fit a standard lock. "Collaring" someone is a special kink ritual and often regardless of the design, the wearer must ask the person who placed it to remove it. In situations where a BDSM collar might cause unwanted attention or discomfort, a "day collar" is often worn instead. Some day collars include subtle aspects of BDSM collars like metal O rings.

Some companies like Eternity make metal BDSM-focused collars and bracelets that can be bolted together. The simple shapes used emphasize the appearance that the jewellery is one singular piece.

Chastity belts and chastity cages are another example of long-term kink wear. They are usually designed to be locking, tamper evident, or both. The person who owns the key is called the keyholder. They are usually designed to be as comfortable as possible, allowing sleeping, showering, and peeing while wearing.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ball, Elissa. "How trendy 'permanent' jewelry became so popular and where to find it locally". Inlander. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  2. ^ a b "Who Wears the Cartier Love Bracelet?". Town & Country. 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  3. ^ Singh, Pashaura; Fenech, Louis E. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-0-19-100411-7. Archived from the original on 8 March 2024. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  4. ^ Simmonds, David (1992). Believers All: A Book of Six World Religions. Cheltenham, England: Nelson Thornes. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-0-17-437057-4.
  5. ^ Robbins, Dale A. "My Father's Watch". Dale A Robbins. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  6. ^ Adams, Ariel (2014-06-15). "Remembering My Dad's Watch And The Birth Of Responsibility". aBlogtoWatch. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  7. ^ Trimble, Jennifer (July 2016). "The Zoninus Collar and the Archaeology of Roman Slavery". American Journal of Archaeology. 120 (3): 447–472. doi:10.3764/aja.120.3.0447. ISSN 0002-9114.
  8. ^ Boyle, Siân (2024-03-05). "From £35 crystals to £30,000 diamonds: the jaw-dropping rise of tooth jewellery". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  9. ^ "Popularity of 'tooth gems' on the rise". 1News. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  10. ^ Heng, Emily (2023-09-05). "Tooth gems are the latest trend to hit the celebrity stratosphere". Vogue Singapore. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  11. ^ Erb, Jordan Parker. "I paid $144 to weld a permanent bracelet onto my wrist and one year later, it's still my favorite no-maintenance accessory". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
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