The dog tag marches on as a piece of personal history

A dog tag necklace is a classic design. Best known as a form of identification for injured or fallen soldiers, these flat, rounded rectangles hanging on a chain have found their way into jewellery.

Bangkok-based jeweller Pattaraphan has swapped the stainless steel used in the modern military version for a £13,968 14-carat gold and diamond-studded dog tag necklace at Mr Porter. Virginia-based Jorge Adeler has encased a rectangular ancient Samurai coin featuring Japanese calligraphy and flowers in hammered 18-carat gold for his $4,980 dog tag necklace. Meanwhile, New York-based David Yurman has gone for a forged-carbon look.

Dog tags have a nostalgic appeal for some customers who wore them when they were younger. But, while designers agree that the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have had little effect on luxury dog tag sales, Los Angeles-based jewellery designer Suzanne Kalan says buying locations have changed. “Where a lot of our Middle Eastern customers would travel to the US, France or the UK and spend a lot of money there, a lot of them are spending a lot of money in their own countries now,” she says.

Kalan believes the dog tag’s military association helps sell the pieces. “It’s not a conscious decision but a combination of everything — the look, the feel, maybe the patriotism in the back of their mind,” she says.

The military aspect can also be a hindrance for designers. “It’s not really the best reputation for the younger generation,” says Pattaraphan founder Pattaraphan Salirathavibhaga. “We were living in a military dictatorship for a long time [in Thailand], which ended a few years ago,” points out the designer, who labels her brand’s dog tags as “tagged ID necklaces”.

Copenhagen-based Orit Elhanati has been making dog tag necklaces since she started her business in 2013 and they now make up 25 per cent of her sales. The simple flat surface lent itself to experimenting with different metals, to find her point of difference, she explains.

According to Elhanati, she was “burning the gold, so the gold was running and dripping, and I got this crystallised surface”. This remains the DNA of her brand, she says.

The flat surface of the dog tag allows for intricate design — like Kalan’s multicoloured sapphire and diamond dog tag necklace (£18,310) where she says “everything is set on prongs”. She adds that “around the edge and the loop is all pavé set diamonds into the gold. And, whatever is in the centre, is set over the gold — that’s why the centre looks higher than the edge.”

For Rosanne Karmes, founder of Los Angeles-based Sydney Evan, the dog tag’s flat surface allows her to soup up her creativity. Take her 14-carat gold, diamond-studded pieces, which have a symbol set asymmetrically on the bottom right “to be a little different”, she says. One necklace has a star, as this appears on a military uniform, she notes, and one has a butterfly “for freedom . . . as this is what people are fighting for”, she adds.

Dog tags date back to Roman times, when a soldier would wear a lead disk around his neck on a piece of string with his name and legion. They were reintroduced in the 19th century during conflicts such as the Franco-Prussian war, when the Prussians became the first army to issue troops with them. In 1906, aluminium disks with a soldier’s name, number, regiment and religion were introduced to the US army and, the following year, to the British army. By the second world war, dog tags were considered an official part of the uniform. Today, British soldiers only wear their steel versions on active service. Dog tags vary in format, information and usage, depending on country.

Part of the trend known as military chic, dog tags came into fashion in the late 20th century when they were worn by musicians such as Noel Gallagher, Eminem, and Justin Bieber.

Designers agree that including dog tag necklaces in their collections widens their market to include men — who “are very loyal” customers, says Elhanati. She estimates a third of her customers are male.

The pieces also appeal to younger buyers, especially those in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties, says Romy Blanga, co-founder of Milan-based Eéra, whose fuchsia dog tag necklace is a top seller as “a more girly colour”, she says. Little wonder that Salirathavibhaga places her dog tags in her Bangkok store’s entrance.

Personalising dog tag necklaces is proving lucrative, says Elhanati, as it has grown the bespoke side of her business from 20 per cent in 2019 to 50 per cent. “This is how the world is right now,” she says. “People who love jewellery really want personal jewellery because this is what fine jewellery can give you — it gives you history but gives you your history.”

Yet not all golds work for a dog tag necklace, according to Los Angeles-based jewellery designer Lizzie Mandler, who offers her customers a choice of yellow, white or rose gold. She estimates 79 per cent prefer yellow gold, with rose gold at 20 per cent and 1 per cent for white gold as, she says, that metal “is dressier”.

Designers see a bright future for dog tag necklaces. Elhanati plans to introduce round shapes, like the UK armed forces’ tags; more stones, such as emeralds; and a thicker chain, to be “more ‘gangsta’ because I think it could very sexy — but very expensive”, she explains. Kalan has changed her design to a big stone in the centre and plans to experiment with semi-precious stones such as labradorite. And Karmes aims to recreate tiger print on her pieces.