Lapis Lazuli by W.B.Yeats

I have heard that hysterical women say
They are sick of the palette and fiddle-bow,
Of poets that are always gay,
For everybody knows or else should know
That if nothing drastic is done
Aeroplane and Zeppelin will come out,
Pitch like King Billy bomb-balls in
Until the town lie beaten flat.


All perform their tragic play,
There struts Hamlet, There is Lear,
That’s Ophelia, that Cordelia:
Yet they, should the last scene be there,
The great stage  curtain about to drop,
If worthy their prominent part in the play,
Do not break up their lines to weep.
They know that Hamlet and Lear are gay:


Gaiety transfiguring all that dread.


All men have aimed at, found and lost:
Black out, Heavan blazing into the head:
Tragedy wrought to its uttermost.
Though Hamlet rambles and Lear rages,
And all the drop-scenes drop at once
Upon a hundred thousand stages,
It cannot grow by an inch or an ounce .


On their own feet they came, or on shipboard,
Camel-back, horse-back, ass-back , mule-back,
Old civilizations  put to the sword.
Then they and their wisdom went to rack:


No handiwork of Callimachus,
Who handled marble as if it were bronze,
Made draperies that seemed to rise
When sea-wind swept the corner, stands:
His long lamp-chimney shaped like the stem
Of slender palm, stood but  day,
All things fall and are built again
And those that build them again are gay.


Two Chinamen, behind them third,
Are carved in Lapis lazuli,
Over them flies a long-legged bird,
A symbol of longevity:
The third, doubtless a serving-man,
Carries a musical instrument.


Every  discoloration of the stone,
Every accidental crack or dent,
Seems a water-course or an avalanche,
Or lofty slope where it still snows,
Though doubtless plum or cherry-branch
Sweetens the little half-way house
Those Chinamen climb towards, and I
Delight to imagine them seated there:
There, on the mountain and the sky,
On all the tragic scene they stare.
One asks for mournful melodies:
Accomplished fingers begin to play.
Their eyes mid many wrinkles, their eyes,
Their ancient, glittering eyes, are gay.

Rubies info

Ruby Properties and other information

Hardness -                            Ruby has a hardness of 9.0

Specific Gravity -                   3.96-4.01

Countries Ruby is Found -   Ruby is found worldwide.

Birthstone Months -            July  : Modern, Polish, Russian birthstone

                                            December  : Roman, Arabic, Hebrew

Anniversary Months -         Ruby is the anniversary month stone of 15th and 40th year.

Star Stone Months -            Ruby is the Star Stone of Capricorn and Cancer. It is the Planetary stone of Scorpio.

Care and Treatment -          Ruby looses its polish if it gets wet. Avoid harsh treatment of your Ruby jewelry that involves hard blows, impact and chemicals. Protect your Ruby jewelry from scratches.

Guide for Shopping -           Ruby is red in color, it is not reddish purple or pink. Always buy Ruby from professional retail jeweler. It is very difficult to find difference between natural ruby and synthetic ruby. A genuine gemologist will always tell you which is synthetic and natural. Purple Sapphires are very much similar to ruby. The color of ruby is the important identifying factor that differentiates between ruby and sapphire. Ruby is red in color where as sapphires are reddish purple or pink in color. Often rubies are treated to enhance its color. Treated ruby is not costly when compared to natural ruby. Natural ruby is very expensive.
 

Healing Powers -                Ruby protects the wearer from misfortune and bad health. It gives more self confidence. Ruby is closely attached with heart chakra. Ruby is used as a healer for both physical and emotional problems. Ruby improves ones strength and courage. Ruby maintains your youthful appearance. It is said that rubbing ruby with your skin maintains your beauty. It is also known as stone of love.

Ruby Rings, Earrings, and Jewelry

Ruby History

Ruby is one among the famous Big Four gemstones, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and rubies. Ruby is rare to be found. It has the hardness second to diamond. Ruby belongs to the red variety of corundum. The red color in ruby is due to the presence of chromium.

The word 'ruby' came from the Latin word 'rubens' meaning 'red'. Ruby is known as 'ratnaraj' in Sanskrit. The word 'ratna' means gem and 'raj' means king, meaning king of gemstones. Greeks called them mother of all gemstones because of its distinguishing beauty and rarity. For Romans it is the flower among gemstones. According to ancient Orientals ruby is also known as 'the glowing stone'. Hindus believed that rubies are used to lighten the homes of gods and goddesses. It is said that rubies ripen with age where as Sapphires will not. Some Greek legends also talk about ruby. The story narrates that a female stork brought ruby in response to Heraclea's kindness. It is believed that the ruby was so bright enough to enlighten the room of Heraclea.

The red color of ruby is the greatest attraction of ruby jewelry. Ruby is well known as a love stone, so the gift of ruby pendants or ruby rings are more appreciated among lovers. Being an expensive gemstone, ruby jewelry is considered as a luxury ornament. Ruby bracelets and Ruby chains are simply the great to adorn your personality.

How to Buy a Ruby

Ruby is a hard stone that comes next to diamond. Similar to diamond you should check for color, cut, clarity and carat of ruby before buying. Ruby is red in color. There are different types of stones that are treated to get color similar to ruby. So always make sure you get your ruby jewelry from a reputed dealer. Rubies will have inclusions in it. Make sure the inclusions are not so prominent. Good quality ruby will have minimum inclusions and fractures. Presence of fractures may weaken your precious stone.

Some questions to ask when purchasing a Ruby are:

• Enquire whether your Ruby is treated for color or other properties
• Check for flaws in your stone, any visible flaws should be taken into care
• uniqueness of color is very important.
• There should not be any visible inclusions. You can check for visible inclusions through microscope
• Note for any distinctive scratches in the gem 

It is better to compare the price of the stone with other jewelry shop and retailers for the same quality of Ruby. Basic information of the crystal will help you in buying good crystal.

Care

Ruby is a hard stone, so caring ruby is very easy. You can clean you ruby jewelry using a soft cloth to remove oil or other dirt. You can use ultrasonic jewelry cleaner to clean your ruby jewelry, just make sure your ruby doesn't have much inclusions. As ultrasonic cleaner may cause damage the treatments done for the inclusions. Periodical cleaning of your ruby jewelry is very essential to maintain the glory of your precious collections. Soaking ruby jewelry in alcohol, vodka, ammonia in the ratio of (1:6 parts of ammonia and water) will loosen the dirt in them. Use soft brush to remove the dirt. Never wear ruby jewelry especially ruby rings while doing hard work. Even though it will not harm the ruby stone it will loosen the prongs and settings. Always check for the prongs and settings to ensure your ruby is safe in the jewelry.

Colors of Ruby: - Ruby is red in color.

From "http://gemstones.mysolitaire.com"

A Brief History Of Gold

from "www.onlygold.com"

A child finds a shiny rock in a creek, thousands of years ago, and the human race is introduced to gold for the first time.

Gold was first discovered as shining, yellow nuggets. "Gold is where you find it," so the saying goes, and gold was first discovered in its natural state, in streams all over the world. No doubt it was the first metal known to early hominids.

Gold became a part of every human culture. Its brilliance, natural beauty, and luster, and its great malleability and resistance to tarnish made it enjoyable to work and play with.

Because gold is dispersed widely throughout the geologic world, its discovery occurred to many different groups in many different locales. And nearly everyone who found it was impressed with it, and so was the developing culture in which they lived.

Gold was the first metal widely known to our species. When thinking about the historical progress of technology, we consider the development of iron and copper-working as the greatest contributions to our species' economic and cultural progress - but gold came first.

Gold is the easiest of the metals to work. It occurs in a virtually pure and workable state, whereas most other metals tend to be found in ore-bodies that pose some difficulty in smelting. Gold's early uses were no doubt ornamental, and its brilliance and permanence (it neither corrodes nor tarnishes) linked it to deities and royalty in early civilizations .

Gold has always been powerful stuff. The earliest history of human interaction with gold is long lost to us, but its association with the gods, with immortality, and with wealth itself are common to many cultures throughout the world.

Early civilizations equated gold with gods and rulers, and gold was sought in their name and dedicated to their glorification. Humans almost intuitively place a high value on gold, equating it with power, beauty, and the cultural elite. And since gold is widely distributed all over the globe, we find this same thinking about gold throughout ancient and modern civilizations everywhere.

Gold, beauty, and power have always gone together. Gold in ancient times was made into shrines and idols ("the Golden Calf"), plates, cups, vases and vessels of all kinds, and of course, jewelry for personal adornment.

The "Gold of Troy" treasure hoard, excavated in Turkey and dating to the era 2450 -2600 B.C., show the range of gold-work from delicate jewelry to a gold gravy boat weighing a full troy pound. This was a time when gold was highly valued, but had not yet become money itself. Rather, it was owned by the powerful and well-connected, or made into objects of worship, or used to decorate sacred locations.

Gold has always had value to humans, even before it was money. This is demonstrated by the extraordinary efforts made to obtain it. Prospecting for gold was a worldwide effort going back thousands of years, even before the first money in the form of gold coins appeared about 700 B.C.

In the quest for gold by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Indians, Hittites, Chinese, and others, prisoners of war were sent to work the mines, as were slaves and criminals. And this happened during a time when gold had no value as 'money,' but was just considered a desirable commodity in and of itself.

The 'value' of gold was accepted all over the world. Today, as in ancient times, the intrinsic appeal of gold itself has that universal appeal to humans. But how did gold come to be a commodity, a measurable unit of value?

History of the diamond trade in Amsterdam

The start of the Amsterdam diamond trading began at the end of the sixteenth century (1586), when one diamond polisher called Willem Vermaet chose to make Amsterdam his city of residence. In the seventeenth century, known as 'the Golden age' in Dutch history because of the leading role Amsterdam played in the world economy, the diamond business was centered around the Rembrandtplein. Wars and economic crises heavily damaged the Amsterdam diamond trade. After the Second World War almost nothing was left of it. During the war more than 2000 Amsterdam Jewish diamond polishers were deported to the concentration camps in Germany and Poland.

Restored to its former glory
After the war, the diamond trade recovered some of its earlier glory due to the efforts of the diamond merchants and help from abroad. Nowadays, the diamond trade attracts millions of tourists and buyers from around the world. Also for industrial diamonds Amsterdam is very important. Most diamond polishers, as well as diamond traders, give demonstrations in diamond cutting and many of the world-renowned diamond stores can be found in Amsterdam.

Famous diamonds
Many famous diamonds were cut and polished in Amsterdam. For example, the "Cullinan," the largest diamond ever found. The "Koh-I-Noor," which means Mountain of Light, was cut for the British Crown Jewels in 1852. Furthermore, the world's smallest diamond, just 0.00012 carat, but with 57 facets, was cut in Amsterdam.

Top 10 Diamonds

The Great Star of Africa

530.20 Carats - the Cullinan I or Star Africa diamond is the largest cut diamond in the world. Pear shaped, with 74 facets, it is set in the Royal Scepter (kept with the other Crown Jewels in the Tower of London). It was cut from the 3,106-carat Cullian, the largest diamond crystal ever found. The Cullian was discovered in Transvaal, South Africa in l095 on an inspection tour of the Premier Mine. The Cullian was cut by Joseph Asscher and Company of Amsterdam, who examined the enormous crystal for around six months before determining how to divide it. It eventually yeilded nine major, and 96 smaller brilliant cut stones. When the Cullian was first discovered, certain signs suggested that it may have been part of a much larger crystal. But no discovery of the "missing half" has ever been authenticated. 



 The Orloff


300 Carats when found, color: slightly bluish green, clarity: exceptionally pure, cut: Mogul-cut rose, source: India.
This gem may be found in the Diamond Treasury of Russia in Moscow.
There are so many historical episodes involving the Orloff. First, it may have been set at one time as the diamond eye of Vishnu's idol (one of the Hindu Gods) in the innermost sanctuary temple in Sriangam, before being stolen in the 1700s by a French deserter. However, the deserter just dug one eye from its socket, because he was terror-stricken at the thought of retribution, so he couldn't take the other. He went to Madras, and sold the stone quickly to an English sea-captain for 2,000 pounds.
The time passed, the stone arrived at Amsterdam where the Russian count Grigori Orloff, an ex-lover of Empress Catherine the Great was residing. He heard about rumors of the stone, and he bought the diamond for 90,000 pounds and took it back to Russia for Catherine's favor. The stone has been called the Orloff since then. Catherine received his gift and had it mounted in the Imperial Sceptre. She gave a marble palace to Grigori in exchange for the Orloff. However, Grigori couldn't get Catherine's love. Grigori Orloff passed away at the nadir of disappointment in 1783.
In 1812 the Russians, fearing that Napoleon with his Grand Army was about to enter Moscow, hid the Orloff in a priest's tomb. Napoleon supposedly discovered the Orloff's location and went to claim it. However, as a solider of the Army was about to touch the Orloff, a priest's ghost appeared and pronounced a terrible curse upon the Army. The Emperor, Napoleon scampered away without the Orloff.


      The Centenary Diamond

273.85 Carats, discovered at the Premier Mine, in July 1986. The 'Centenary' diamond weighed 599.10 carats in the rough. Together with a small select team, master-cutter Gabi Tolkowsky took almost three years to complete its transformation into the world's largest, most modern-cut, top-colour, flawless diamond.
Possessing 247 facets - 164 on the stone and 83 on its girdle - the aptly-named 'Centenary' diamond weighs 273.85 carats, and is only surpassed in size by the 530.20 carat 'Great Star of Africa' and the 317.40 carat 'Lesser Star of Africa', both of which are set into the British Crown Jewels. The 'Centenary' diamond was unveiled, appropriately at the Tower of London in May,1991. 


The Regent


140.50 Carats, although it is now surpassed in weight by other famous diamonds, the exceptional limpidity and perfect cut of the Regent give it an uncontestable reputation as the most beautiful diamond in the world. Discovered in India in 1698, it was acquired by Thomas Pitt, Governor of Madras, who sent it to England where it was cut. In 1717 the Regent purchased it from Pitt for the French Crown. It first adorned the band of Louis XV's silver gilt crown (in the Louvre) at his coronation in 1722, going then to Louis XVI's crown in 1775. Later in 1801 it figured on the hilt of the First Consul's sword (Fontainebleau, Musée Napoléon 1st), and then on the Emperor's two-edged sword in 1812. In 1825 it was worn on the crown at the coronation of Charles x, and during the Second Empire it embellished the "Grecian diadem" of the Empress Eugenie. It can be seen today at the Louvre in Paris.


Koh-i-Noor (Mountain of Light)

105.60 Carats, an oval cut gem, now part of the British Crown Jewels. The name of this diamond means "Mountain of Light" and its history, dating back to1304, is the longest of all famous diamonds. It was captured by the Rajahs of Malwa in the sixteenth century by the Mogul, Sultan Babur and remained in the possession of later Mogul emperors. It may have been set in the famous Peacock Throne made for Shah Jehan. After the break-up of the Persian empire the diamond found its way to India. It may have traveled to Afghanistan with a bodyguard of Nadir Shah, who fled with the stone when the Shah was murdered, to be later offered to Ranjit Singh of the Punjab in exchange for military help (which was never delivered). After fighting broke out between the Sikhs and the British, The East India Company claimed the diamond as a partial indemnity, and then presented it to Queen Victoria in 1850. When the stone came from India, it weighed l986 carats; it was later recut to l08.93 carats. It was first worn by the Queen in a brooch. It was later set in the State Crown, worn by Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary, and 1937 was worn for by Queen Elizabeth for her coronation. It is kept in the Tower of London, with the other Crown Jewels.


The Idol's Eye

70.20 Carats, a flattened pear-shaped stone the size of a bantam's egg. Another famous diamond that was once set in the eye of an idol before it was stolen. Legend also has it that it was given as ransom for Princess Rasheetah by the Sheik of Kashmir to the Sultan of Turkey who had abducted her. 



The Taylor-Burton
 
69.42 Carats, color: F-G, clarity: IF, cut: Pear-shape, source: Premier Mine, Transvaal, South Africa.
It was founded in 1966 in the Premier Mine in South Africa. The rough, which weighted 240.80 carats, was cut into a 69.42 pear shape diamond.
As you might guess from the name, Richard Burton bought and named this stone as a gift for Elizabeth Taylor. Yes, Richard Burton bought it $1,100,000. He also named this stone as an engagement. After Burton's death in 1979, Liz Taylor sold the stone for charity and reportedly received $2.8 million. She donated in his memory to a hospital in Biafra.   It was last seen in Saudi Arabia.



The Sancy

55 Carats, it was cut in a pear shape and was first owned by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who lost it in battle in 1477. The stone is in fact named after a later owner, Seigneur de Sancy, a French Ambassador to Turkey in the late 16th century.  He loaned it to the French king, Henry III who wore it in the cap with which he concealed his baldness.  Henry IV of France also borrowed the stone from Sancy, but it was sold in 1664 to James I of England.  In 1688, James II, last of the Stuart kings of England, fled with it to Paris.  It disappeared during the French revolution


The Blue Hope
 
45.52 Carats, the ironically named Hope diamond (named for its purchaser, Henry Thomas Hope) may have had a long and illustrious history before it became associated with a run of bad luck for its owners. It is thought to be a part of the famous Blue Tavernier Diamond, brought to Europe from India in l642. The Blue was purchased by King Louis XIV who had it cut to 67.50 carats from 112 carats to bring out its brilliance. The diamond was stolen during the French Revolution, and a smaller diamond of similar color was sold in 1830 to Hope, an English banker. After inheriting the diamond, Hope's son lost his fortune. It was eventually acquired by an American widow, Mrs. Edward McLean, whose family then suffered a series of catastrophes: her only child was accidentally killed, the family broke up, Mrs. McLean lost her money, and then committed suicide. When Harry Winston, the New York diamond merchant, bought the stone in 1949, many clients refused to uch the stone. It is now on display at the Smithosonian Institute in Washington.


 
  Hortensia
 
20 Carats, a peach colored stone, named after the Queen of Holland, the step-daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte, this gem is part of the French Crown Jewels and may be viewed at the Louvre in Paris.

General Info

In creating jewellery, gemstones, coins, or other precious items are often used, and they are typically set into precious metals. Alloys of nearly every metal known have been encountered in jewellery - bronze, for example, was common in Roman times. Modern fine jewellery usually includes gold, white gold, platinum, palladium, titanium or silver. Most American and European gold jewellery is made of an alloy of gold, the purity of which is stated in karats, indicated by a number followed by the letter K. American gold jewellery must be of at least 10K purity (41.7% pure gold), (though in the UK the number is 9K (37.5% pure gold) and is typically found up to 18K (75% pure gold). Higher purity levels are less common with alloys at 22 K (91.6% pure gold), and 24 K (99.9% pure gold) being considered too soft for jewellery use in America and Europe. These high purity alloys, however, are widely used across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Platinum alloys range from 900 (90% pure) to 950 (95.0% pure). The silver used in jewellery is usually sterling silver, or 92.5% fine silver. In costume jewellery, stainless steel findings are sometimes used.

 

Beads are frequently used in jewellery. These may be made of glass, gemstones, metal, wood, shells, clay and polymer clay. Beaded jewellery 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 jewellery. Another use of seed beads is an embroidery technique where seed beads 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 jewellery making. Beading, or beadwork, is also very popular in many African cultures.
Advanced glass and glass beadmaking techniques by Murano and Venetian glassmasters developed crystalline glass, enamelled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold (goldstone), multicoloured glass (millefiori), milk-glass (lattimo) and imitation gemstones made of glass. As early as the 13th century, Murano glass and Murano beads were popular
Silversmiths, goldsmiths, and lapidaries methods include forging, casting, soldering or welding, cutting, carving and "cold-joining" (using adhesives, staples and rivets to assemble parts).^[6]

Diamonds

Diamonds.

Main article: Diamond

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.
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.

Other gemstones

Main article: Gemstone

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 1 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.

Spanish emerald and gold pendant at Victoria and Albert Museum.

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 colour. They have been treasured throughout history, and some historians report that the Egyptians mined emerald as early as 3500 BC.

Jade

Jade is most commonly associated with the colour green, but can come in a number of other colours 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 colours. Often, jasper will feature unique and interesting patterns within the coloured stone. Picture jasper is a type of jasper known for the colours (often beiges and browns) and swirls in the stone’s pattern.

Quartz

Quartz refers to a family of crystalline gemstones of various colours and sizes. Among the well-known types of quartz are rose quartz (which has a delicate pink colour), and smoky quartz (which comes in a variety of shades of translucent brown). A number of other gemstones, like 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 colour, 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 colour and strong saturation. Fancy coloured sapphires in various colours 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. Turquoise is prized for its attractive colour, most often an intense medium blue or a greenish blue, and its ancient heritage. Turquoise is used in a great variety of jewellery styles. It is perhaps most closely associated with southwest and Native American jewellery, 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 colour.

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, an example is the cubic zirconia, used in place of the diamond.

Metal finishes

An example of gold plated jewellery

For platinum, gold, and silver jewellery there are many techniques to create finishes. The most common are high-polish, satin/matte, brushed, and hammered. High-polished jewellery is by far the most common and gives the metal the highly-reflective and shiny look. Satin, or matte finish reduces the shine and reflection of the jewellery and is commonly used to accentuate gemstones such as diamonds. Brushed finishes give the jewellery a textured look, and are created by brushing a material (similar to sandpaper) against the metal, leaving 'brush strokes'. Hammered finishes are typically created by using a soft, rounded hammer and hammering the jewellery to give it a wavy texture.
Some jewellery is plated to give it a shiny, reflective look or to achieve a desired colour. Sterling silver jewellery may be plated with a thin layer of 0.999 fine silver (a process known as flashing) or may be plated with rhodium or gold. Base metal costume jewellery may also be plated with silver, gold, or rhodium for a more attractive finish.

what are jewellries?

Jewellery (pronounced /ˈdʒuːəlri/ or /ˈdʒuːələri/) or jewelry (see American and British English spelling differences) signifies items of personal adornment, such as necklaces, rings, brooches, earringsbracelets. Jewellery may be made from any material, such as gemstones, precious metals or shells, besides other materials, depending on cultural differences and availability of materials. Jewellery may be appreciated because of geometric or other patterns, or meaningful symbols. (Items such as belts and handbags etc. are considered to be accessories rather than jewellery.) and

The word jewellery is derived from the word jewel, which was Anglicised from the Old French "jouel" circa the 13th century.^[1] Further tracing leads back to the Latin word "jocale", meaning plaything. Jewellery is one of the oldest forms of body adornment; recently found 100,000 year-old beads made from Nassarius shells, are thought to be the oldest known jewellery.^[2]

Jewellery is sometimes seen as wealth storage or functionally as holding a garment or hair together. It has from very early times also been regarded as a form of personal adornment. The first pieces of jewellery were made from natural materials, such as bone, animal teeth, shell, wood and carved stone. More exotic jewellery was probably made for wealthy people or as indications of social status. In some cases people were buried with their jewellery.

Jewelery has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings and many more types of jewellery. While high-quality jewellery is made with gemstones and precious metals, such as silver or gold, there is also a growing demand for art jewellery where design and creativity is prized above material value. In addition, there is the less costly costume jewellery, made from lower value materials and mass-produced. Other variations include wire sculpture (wrap) jewellery, using anything from base metal wire with rock tumbled stone to precious metals and precious gemstones.