Silver and Gold in Women’s Jewelry in the Caucasus in the Second Half of the 20th Century: A Problem of Sociocultural Replacement

Abstract

The article discusses the development of basic trends (including specifi cities of the “local fashion”) in usage of women’s jewelry (such as rings and earrings) in the Caucasus of the Soviet period. The author points out that the tradition of wearing gold jewelry with precious stones (which is taken to be an ingrained facet of the image of a Caucasus woman today) had shaped but in the 1960-70s and had been part of the process of forcing out the traditional clothing and related forms of embellishment. She examines the transition from silver to gold, which had taken place in those years, and analyzes its causes, peculiarities, and connection with the particular aspects of the traditional worldview under the so called Soviet way of life.