The pendants came in the shape of a ring or rosette and were fixed onto the so called chokhto, a very popular among Dagestan women headdress resembling a cape. In everyday life women wore it to protect their hair from dust and mud; on holidays they covered it with their best scarves and decorated with silver ornaments. Occasionally, one pendant was connected to the other by a silver chain fixed at the back of the woman’s head.

Occasionally, the bird was replaced by a crescent with a star as exemplified by the museum collection piece. The crescent is the main symbol of Islam frequently seen on pieces manufactured by jewelers in South Dagestan. The jewelry style closely resembles that of the Middle Eastern countries, especially the art of Iran, which explains the wide diversity of colors, a lot of colored glass inserts and other bright accents. In these pendants, blue and orange colored paste inserts imitate turquoise and coral.