Tortoise brooches were used by Viking women to fasten their apron dresses/hangerocks while wearing them. However, they had a decorative function in addition to a practical one. Viking women also used their tortoise brooches as a place to hang everyday objects so they were within reach.
Depending on your preference, you can keep your tortoise brooches plain, decorate them a little, or go all out and adorn them lavishly.
How can I decorate my tortoise brooches as beautifully as possible?
Strings of beads
A common way to decorate tortoise brooches was by hanging strings of beads between them. You can attach just one string to your brooches, or three, or many more. In the Viking era, these beads were generally made of glass, amber, and the like. Sometimes they were made of metals such as bronze or silver.
One way to attach these strings is by simply fastening them directly to the brooches, attaching them to the pin, or tying the strings to a small ring and sliding that onto the pin.
If you want to attach multiple strings, you can also attach them to a jewelry divider and then attach the jewelry divider to the brooches.
Practical everyday objects
Contrary to what is shown in most modern pop culture, Vikings cared a lot about personal hygiene. It was common for women to wear items like nail cleaners, ear spoons, and small combs on their tortoise brooches.
Other everyday objects they attached to their brooches included small knives, keys, sewing equipment, tweezers, etc.
These items could be hung directly on the brooch using a chain ending in a small hook. Or by attaching those chains to a jewelry divider and affixing the divider to one of the brooches.
Check out here our tortoise brooches.
You can find our personal hygiene articles here .
And our historical sewing supplies here .
