Jewelry

Jewelry (U.S.) (or Jewelry (UK)) consists of decorative items worn as personal adornments, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewelry may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western perspective, the term is restricted to durable ornaments, excluding flowers for example. For many centuries metal such as gold often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for Jewelry, but other materials such as glass, shells, and other plant materials may be used.

Jewelry is one of the oldest types of archaeological artifacts – with 100,000-year-old beads made from Nassarius shells thought to be the oldest known Jewelry. The basic forms of Jewelry vary between cultures but are often extremely long-lived; in European cultures, the most common forms of Jewelry listed above have persisted since ancient times, while other forms such as adornments for the nose or ankle, important in other cultures, are much less common.

Jewelry may be made from a wide range of materials. Gemstones and similar materials such as amber and coral, precious metals, beads, and shells have been widely used, and enamel has often been important. In most cultures, Jewelry can be understood as a status symbol, for its material properties, its patterns, or for meaningful symbols. Jewelry has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings, and even genital Jewelry. In modern European culture, the amount worn by adult males is relatively low compared with other cultures and other periods in European culture.

The word Jewelry itself is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicized from the Old French "jouel", and beyond that, to the Latin word "jocale", meaning plaything. In British English, Indian English, New Zealand English, Hiberno-English, Australian English, and South African English it is spelled Jewelry, while the spelling is jewelry in American English.[3] Both are used in Canadian English, though jewelry prevails by a two to one margin. In French and a few other European languages the equivalent term, joaillerie, may also cover decorated metalwork in precious metal such as objets d'art and church items, not just objects worn on the person.

Form and function

Humans have used jewelry for a number of different reasons: functional, generally to fix clothing or hair in place.

• as a marker of social status and personal status, as with a wedding ring
• as a signifier of some form of affiliation, whether ethnic, religious or social
• to provide talismanic protection (in the form of amulets)[4]
• as an artistic display
• as a carrier or symbol of personal meaning – such as love, mourning, a personal milestone or even luck
• considered it as a good investment
• superstitioN.

Most cultures at some point have had a practice of keeping large amounts of wealth stored in the form of jewelry. Numerous cultures store wedding dowries in the form of jewelry or make jewelry as a means to store or display coins. Alternatively, jewelry has been used as a currency or trade good.[6] an example being the use of slave beads.

Many items of jewelry, such as brooches and buckles, originated as purely functional items but evolved into decorative items as their functional requirement diminished.

Jewellery can symbolize group membership (as in the case, of the Christian crucifix or the Jewish Star of David) or status (as in the case of chains of office, or the Western practice of married people wearing wedding rings).

Wearing of amulets and devotional medals to provide protection or to ward off evil is common in some cultures. These may take the form of symbols (such as the ankh), stones, plants, animals, body parts (such as the Khamsa), or glyphs (such as stylized versions of the Throne Verse in Islamic art).[9]

Materials and methods

Hair ornament, an Art Nouveau masterpiece; by René Lalique; circa 1902; gold, emeralds and diamonds; Musée d'Orsay (Paris) In creating jewelry, gemstones, coins, or other precious items are often used, and they are typically set into precious metals. Platinum alloys range from 900 (90% pure) to 950 (95% pure). The silver used in jewelry is usually sterling silver, or 92.5% fine silver. In costume jewelry, stainless steel findings are sometimes used.

Other commonly used materials include glass, such as fused glass or enamel; wood, often carved or turned; shells and other natural animal substances such as bone and ivory; natural clay; polymer clay; Hemp and other twines have been used as well to create jewelry that has more of a natural feel. However, any inclusion of lead or lead solder will give a British Assay office (the body which gives U.K. jewelry its stamp of approval, the Hallmark) the right to destroy the piece, however, it is very rare for the assay office to do so.

Beads are frequently used in jewelry. These may be made of glass, gemstones, metal, wood, shells, clay, and polymer clay. Beaded jewelry commonly encompasses necklaces, bracelets, earrings, belts, and rings. Beads may be large or small; the smallest type of beads used are known as seed beads, these are the beads used for the "woven" style of beaded jewelry. Seed beads are also used in an embroidery technique where they are sewn onto fabric backings to create broad collar neck pieces and beaded bracelets. Bead embroidery, a popular type of handwork during the Victorian era, is enjoying a renaissance in modern jewelry making. Beading, or beadwork, is also very popular in many African and indigenous North American cultures.

Silversmiths, goldsmiths, and lapidaries use methods including forging, casting, soldering or welding, cutting, carving, and "cold-joining" (using adhesives, staples, and rivets to assemble parts).

Diamonds

Diamonds were first mined in India. Pliny may have mentioned them, although there is some debate as to the exact nature of the stone he referred to as Adamas. In 2005, Australia, Botswana, Russia, and Canada ranked among the primary sources of gemstone diamond production.

There are negative consequences of the diamond trade in certain areas. Diamonds mined during the recent civil wars in Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and other nations have been labeled as blood diamonds when they are mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency.

The British crown jewels contain the Cullinan Diamond, part of the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found (1905), at 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g).

Now popular in engagement rings, this usage dates back to the marriage of Maximilian I to Mary of Burgundy in 1477.

A popular style is the diamond solitaire, which features a single large diamond mounted prominently. Within solitaire, there are 3 categories in which a ring can be classified: as prong, bezel, and tension settings.

Many precious and semiprecious stones are used for jewellery. Among them are:

Amber

Amber, an ancient organic gemstone, is composed of tree resin that has hardened over time. The stone must be at least one million years old to be classified as amber, and some amber can be up to 120 million years old.

Amethyst

Amethyst has historically been the most prized gemstone in the quartz family. It is treasured for its purple hue, which can range in tone from light to dark.

Emerald

Emeralds are one of the three main precious gemstones (along with rubies and sapphires) and are known for their fine green to bluish green color. They have been treasured throughout history, and some historians report that the Egyptians mined emeralds as early as 3500 BC.

Jade

Jade is most commonly associated with the color green but can come in a number of other colors as well. Jade is closely linked to Asian culture, history, and tradition, and is sometimes referred to as the stone of heaven.

Jasper

Jasper is a gemstone of the chalcedony family that comes in a variety of colors. Often, jasper will feature unique and interesting patterns within the colored stone. Picture jasper is a type of jasper known for the colors (often beiges and browns) and swirls in the stone's pattern.

Quartz

Quartz refers to a family of crystalline gemstones of various colors and sizes. Among the well-known types of quartz are rose quartz (which has a delicate pink color), and smoky quartz (which comes in a variety of shades of translucent brown). A number of other gemstones, such as Amethyst and Citrine, are also part of the quartz family. Rutilated quartz is a popular type of quartz containing needle-like inclusions.

Ruby

Rubies are known for their intense red color and are among the most highly valued precious gemstones. Rubies have been treasured for millennia. In Sanskrit, the word for ruby is ratnaraj, meaning king of precious stones.

Sapphire

The most popular form of sapphire is blue sapphire, which is known for its medium to deep blue color and strong saturation. Fancy sapphires of various colors are also available. In the United States, blue sapphire tends to be the most popular and most affordable of the three major precious gemstones (emerald, ruby, and sapphire).

Turquoise

Turquoise is found in only a few places on earth, and the world's largest turquoise-producing region is the southwest United States. It is prized for its attractive color, most often an intense medium blue or a greenish blue, and its ancient heritage. Turquoise is used in a great variety of jewelry styles. It is perhaps most closely associated with southwest and Native American jewelry, but it is also used in many sleek, modern styles. Some turquoise contains a matrix of dark brown markings, which provides an interesting contrast to the gemstone's bright blue color.

Some gemstones (like pearls, coral, and amber) are classified as organic, meaning that they are produced by living organisms. Others are inorganic, meaning that they are generally composed of and arise from minerals.

Some gems, for example, amethyst, have become less valued as methods of extracting and importing them have progressed. Some man-made gems can serve in place of natural gems, such as cubic zirconia, which can be used in place of diamonds.

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