Talhakimt pendants were produced between 1835 and 1980 in the German town of Idar-Oberstein. From there middlemen sold them to Africa, where the peoples of the southern Sahara used the pendants as jewelry and money. Before agate jewelry from Idar-Oberstein broke into the African market, it was in the 17th and 18th centuries merchandise from India that was traded via Cairo to the Sahara. Even so, the origin of the talhakimt pendants is in all probability African: their form harks back to old rings from diverse materials (such as stone, silver or other metals) that were found among the peoples living in and around the Sahara.