Yes, this bracelet contains authentic 15th Century chain mail! These rings come from a hauberk. This armor piece was acquired at auction and originally was held in a private collection. Research suggests it was made in central Europe, in what is now modern Germany.

Each bracelet has been handcrafted by our jewelry team with three unique rings. The bracelet ships in a padded jewelry box along with a statement of authenticity underneath the padding insert.

"When we made the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, most of us wore imitation chain-mail made out of knitted wool, which was uncomfortable enough, but Graham Chapman, as King Arthur, wore a genuine metal chain mail coif and found the weight of it unbearable for more than short periods." ~ Terry Jones

Bookended by the collapse of the western Roman Empire in 476 and the beginnings of the Renaissance a millennia later, Europe’s Medieval Period bore witness to centuries of military conflict, augmented by advancements in weapons and armor technology. Chain mail was the perfect armor to protect against this arsenal of battle axes and spiked flails. It was flexible and light enough to keep a warrior unencumbered (though not exactly comfortable), but tough enough to fend off blows from enemies.

Valued for flexibility in combat, chain mail was the primary defensive armor in Europe for more than one thousand years, through the entirety of the Medieval Period. To create a 'chain mail' or 'maille' garment, thousands of rings would be punched out whole or riveted from strands of wire. A blacksmith would weave the rings into sheets using a pattern of interlocking rings. Patterns varied by region, dictated by armaments and fighting styles. Given the labor-intensive process of weaving, chain mail garments were costly to purchase but relatively simple to repair.

After being built, chain mail would go through a process called proofing to assure it could stand up to blows during battle. “Armour of proof” or specifically “mail of proof” was chain mail that had been found to survive shots from arrows or jabs from swords. Of course, the very existence of this designation suggests that plenty of chain mail was not strong enough to handle tough blows, especially as weapons became more advanced, like the rise of the longbow in the 14th century. For all its benefits, chain mail was no guaranteed protection against attack.