A lavalier or lavaliere or lavalliere is an item of

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

consisting of a pendant, sometimes with one stone, pendulous and centered from a necklace. The style was popularized by the Duchesse de la Vallière, a mistress of King

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. A lavalier can be recognized most for its drop, usually consisting of a stone and/or a chandelier pendant, which is attached directly to the chain, not by a

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

. According to Hans Nadelhoffer, ''Cartier: Jewelers Extraordinary'' (1984), p. 50: "Lavallière" is still the French name for a pussy bow. Later, the American collegiate fraternity system ("greeks") adopted a lavalier which contained the fraternity letters as part of or within the pendant to symbolize involvement in an ongoing romantic relationship. Women receiving these pendants were called "dropped," but may later enter a long-term relationship resulting in becoming "pinned" (woman receiving the man's fraternity pin to wear), engaged and

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

References

Necklaces Fraternity and sorority culture {{fashion-stub

See also

References