14K Wedding Chain Re-creation 22" 7.3 mm, 35 grams
This is a beautiful re-creation of the "Wedding Chain" found on the Santa Margarita Shipwreck.
The Original Wedding Chain
One chain that was recovered from the Santa Margarita merited its own name. Two 3-foot loops of massive gold chain joined by a central link bring this object to nearly 7lbs of gold. Spanish Colonies, as in the Spanish homeland, old customs survived and were adopted into the New World colonies. One of these was the dowry, a payment of the bride’s family to that of the groom’s for the marriage of the daughter to the son. A custom also existed to show the unity of the two families by placing a “garland” of flowers over the head of the bride and the groom. These flowers were joined by a central loop thus the “unity”. This massive chain seems to echo this custom on both counts hence the name “wedding chain”.
Learn more about gold chains from the 1622 Fleet here