As early as Roman antiquity, the joining of hands as a symbol of harmony (Concordia) can be found in jewelry design. This bracelet, created during the Biedermeier period, with its clasp in the shape of two hands, can also be understood as symbolizing a close bond. Woven from strands of gold, it is a variant of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century friendship ornament made from braided hair that expressed a special form of affection between two people.
Helene, Duchess of Württemberg (1807–1880), née Princess of Hohenlohe, gave this piece of jewelry to her lady-in-waiting Ferdinande von Kulisch as a token of their friendship, probably when Ferdinande married Karl Freiherr von Richthofen in 1828. The joined hands of the clasp, both embellished with a stylized frilled cuff, an implied pearl border, and a garland of flowers and leaves, may have symbolized the bond between the two women. Only one of the two hands wears two rings, a ruby on the index finger and a diamond on the little finger, and only on this hand is the cuff adorned with a faceted ruby. This may have been intended to express the higher rank of the donor.