All About Jewellery
Jewellery (also spelled jewelry) is a personal ornament, such as a necklace, ring or bracelet, made from jewels, precious metals or other substances. The word jewellery is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicised from the Old French "jouel" in around the 13th century. 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 Nassarius shells that were made into beads are thought to be the oldest known jewellery.
View the Ampalian Jewellery collection.
Engagement Rings
Wedding Rings
Eternity Rings
Bracelets & Bangles
Necklaces & Pendants
Earrings
Precious Metals
Hallmarks
Gem Stones
Jewellery has been used for a number of reasons:
- Currency, (wealth display and storage)
- Functional use (such as clasps, pins, and buckles)
- Symbolism (to show membership or status)
- Protection (in the form of amulets and magical wards)
- Artistic display
Most cultures have at some point had a practice of keeping large amounts of wealth stored in the form of jewellery. Numerous cultures move wedding dowries in the form of jewellery, or create jewellery as a means to store or display coins. Alternatively, jewellery has been used as a currency or trade good; an example being the use of slave beads.
Many items of jewellery, such as brooches and buckles originated as purely functional items, but evolved into decorative items as their functional requirement diminished.
Jewellery can also be symbolic of group membership, as in the case of the Christian crucifix or Jewish Star of David, or of status, as in the case of chains of office, or the Western practice of married people wearing a wedding ring.
Wearing of amulets and devotional medals to provide protection or 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).
Although artistic display has clearly been a function of jewellery from the very beginning, the other roles described above tended to take primacy. It was only in the late 19th century, with the work of such masters as Peter Carl Fabergé and René Lalique, that art began to take primacy over function and wealth. This trend has continued into modern times, expanded upon by artists such as Robert Lee Morris.
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 jewellery usually includes gold, white gold, platinum or silver. Most American and European gold jewellery is made of an alloy of gold, the purity of which is stated in carats, indicated by a number followed by the letters ct. American gold jewellery must be of at least 10ct purity (41.7% pure gold), (though in England the number is 9K 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. 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; and even plastics. However, any inclusion of lead or lead solder will cause an English Assay office (the building which gives your jewellery its 'stamp of approval, the Hallmark) to destroy the piece.
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, and belts. 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. Advanced glass and glass beadmaking techniques by Murano and Venetian glassmasters developed crystalline glass, enameled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold (aventurine), 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).
