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Jewelry Guide - Introduction to Jewelry
Jewelry is a personal ornament, such as a ring, bracelet, necklace or any other item made from jewels, precious metals or any other material. The word jewelry is derived from the Latin word Jocale means plaything. In present scenario the word Jewelry is used to describe any piece of precious metal or gemstone used to adorn oneself. Jewelry has fascinated, thrilled and impressed the world for thousands of years and played an important role in growth of human civilization. Jewelry is one of the oldest forms of body adornment and was in use before the clothing came into existence.
In primitive times, jewelry was created from natural materials, such as bone, animal teeth, shell, wood, and carved stone. But after the discovery and extraction of minerals and metals, jewelry is usually created by setting sparkling gemstones into precious metals. These minerals and metals are extracted in a rough state and usually require some treatment before their use in jewelry. Gemstones are cut and polished to exhibit their sparkle whereas alloys are mixed in metals to make them strong and colorful.
Jewelry is made to adorn nearly for every body part from head to toe and since ancient times, it is used for various different reasons and purposes in different cultures and periods.
Jewelry has been used for following reasons and purposes:
Artistic and Fashionable Purpose
From the very beginning, jewelry has been primarily used as an artistic and fashionable item. In almost all the cultures, jewelry is used as an ornament to enhance and exhibit beauty of human body.
Functional Use
Many jewelry items, such as pins and buckles, invented as purely functional or practical items, but evolved into decorative jewelry items as their functional or practical requirement diminished.
Symbolism
Jewelry is often used as status symbol and considered as one of the most influential ways to display wealth. Jewelry is also used to exhibit culture and feelings. For example, in many cultures, married people wear a jewelry item such as wedding ring, necklace etc.
Currency and Wealth Storage
In most traditions, at some point, jewelry was used as a currency or barter goods. From ancient times to till date, it is also used as a mode of wealth storage.
Devotional Purpose
In many cultures, it is common to wear talismans or amulets either for devotional purposes or for providing a safeguard from evil spirits and bad luck.
Jewelry Guide - History of Jewelry
The history of jewelry is as old as human civilization which also demonstrates growth and development process of human civilization.
Since the dawn of civilization jewelry has been an integral part of our culture and customs. We all love and use jewelry in some way or the other. Jewelry is in use long before clothing developed into fashion and is a cherished symbol of prestige and beauty.
Early History
The first signs of jewelry came from thousands of years ago and no other consumer item has such a long history. The use of jewelry began when early humans started to settle down in certain areas and began building communities. In this early period, minerals and metals were not in existence and jewelry items, such as preliminary form of necklaces and bracelets, were made by using bone, animal teeth, shell, wood, and carved stone. But after the discovery and extraction of minerals and metals, people started using gems and metals in jewelry items. Around 7,000 years ago, the first use of copper jewelry was seen.
Jewelry was used widely by almost all the early cultures and it was an integral part of their customs. The first sign of crafted gold jewelry in ancient Egypt was around 3,000-4,000 years ago. In combination with gold jewelry, Egyptians mainly used colored glass instead of precious gems, as they preferred glass colors more to the natural colors of gems. For nearly each gemstone available that time, there was a glass formulation used by the Egyptians to imitate it. In Egypt, jewelry was a symbol of power and wealth and worn by wealthy Egyptians through out their life and after their death these jewelry items were placed among grave goods.
The Greeks started using gold and gems in jewelry in 1,400 BC and soon they mastered in making colored stone jewelry by using various stones like emeralds, amethysts and pearl. Initially designs in Greek jewelry were simple but attractive and jewelry makers in ancient Greece mainly created two different styles of jewelry pieces such as cast pieces and hammered pieces. In Greece, jewelry was worn on special occasions instead of daily use and majorly woman wore jewelry to display their beauty, wealth and social status. Jewelry was also worn for religious purposes and it was believed to provide safeguard from bad luck.
The Romans borrowed styles from other cultures and developed their own styles on the basis of these styles. They used a variety of materials for their jewelry from their extensive resources across the continent. They used mainly gold with more colored stones such as topaz, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and pearls in their jewelry than previous cultures. The most common artifact of early Rome was the brooch, which was used to secure clothing together. The other jewelry items they used to create were rings, necklaces, clasps, earrings, pendants and bracelets. In Rome, women wore a vast range of jewelry whereas men often used to wear only rings. Like the Greeks, Romans also wore jewelry as a safeguard from the bad luck.
Jewelry in Asian countries, like India and China, has history of around 5,000 years and it was an integral part of their culture. In China, jewelry was preferred in silver as compared to gold and often decorated with blue color. Chinese women used to wear all types of jewelry to show their beauty and wealth and the most common piece of jewelry worn by Chinese was the earring, worn by both men and women.
India is considered the first country to mine diamonds dated back 300 BC and involved in a continuous development process of jewelry making. Before 2100 BC, the natives of the Indus Valley Civilization used to trade jewelry beads as that time, metals were not widely used in jewelry items. In the Indus Valley, jewelry beads were made by using some simple techniques which also involved heating and polishing of a stone for color improvement. By 1500 BC, the natives of the Indus Valley were using metals such as gold to create earrings, necklaces, rings, bead necklaces and metallic bangles. In the Indus Valley, women wore jewelry items like gold rings, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, brooches, chokers, forehead bands etc. Unlike many other ancient cultures, Indus Valley jewelry was never buried with the dead and natives of Indus Valley used to pass these to their children or family members.
Jewelry played an important role in almost all the ancient cultures.
Recent Times
By the 17th century, the Renaissance and exploration had vital impacts on the growth of jewelry and jewelry it began to establish as one of the most important parts of fashionable clothing. By this time, wide ranges of gemstones were available due to increase in exploration and trade. In 17th century, craftsmen studied as well as explored many ancient cultures and made some important technical improvements in gemstone cutting, which helped in enhancing the popularity of gemstone jewelry. Beautiful floral art was on peak at that time and flower designing became a dominant theme for fine jewelry.
By the 18th century, diamond jewelry became very popular and began to express changing trends in fashion. In this period, some new stone setting styles including prong setting was invented which multiplied the brilliancy of a diamond.
In the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution brought enormous change to the whole world including jewelry industry. Mass production of jewelry and concept of imitation stones made jewelry available to everyone. In this period, jewelry and jewelry accessories became very popular even in middle and lower classes.
In the 20th century and afterwards, jewelry reached onto new highs and now is available in more stylish and trendy forms. This century was characterized by the beginning of a new era in jewelry making. New technological improvements in stone cutting, polishing and setting were developed as well as new metals such as platinum and palladium were used in jewelry. In addition, new casting technologies along with new sophisticated machinery allowed for the production of more versatile jewelry by using different patterns, shapes and styles.
In today's world, jewelry has become part of our day-to-day life and our culture. Now jewelry making has improved exceptionally well due to involvement of computers and technology but still maximum cutting, polishing and finishing work of a gemstone is done manually by experts.
