"Choker Necklace" by The Jewish Museum

“This wonderful necklace was created by a Jewish silversmith in Yemen, probably in the capital San’a in the late 19th, early 20th century.”

“It's one of the heaviest necklaces fashioned by Yemenite jewelers. It actually weighs over two pounds. A necklace of this kind would be worn either by young girls, or married women as part of their dowries.”

“Basically it was the household wealth, it was portable wealth that they could cash in if need be.”

“This very complex necklace is composed of two triangular ends called tadarif, and up to-- probably this one has 13 strands of silver beads. And this was really the province of Jewish silversmiths in Yemen.”

NARRATOR:
On the triangular ends, the delicate filigree patterns are made by curling and twisting fine silver wires.

Jews were first recorded in Yemen some 2500 years ago. During the Islamic era, they were able to specialize in jewelry making, since that was considered an undesirable profession for a Muslim.

Most Yemeni Jews emigrated to Israel when the state was founded in 1948.

CLAUDIA NAHSON:
“And it is said that when Jews left en masse from Yemen in 1948-49, that one of the conditions the Imam, the ruler, put to let the Jews go was that they would teach the skill of silversmithing to the local population.”