Jewelry Is Forever, But Especially For The Future

Can you imagine something 115,000 years old? Recent archaeological expeditions have dated some of the earliest ornamental relics as coming from our earliest civilizations on Earth. Discovered in South Africa, the crude necklaces involve shells strung along very simple fibrous threads.

These latest finds join the wealth of ancient jewelry found in all the worlds early cultures, from every part of the globe. Jewelry craftsmanship, it seems, is as universal as almost every other endeavor that led to the growth and expansion of the worlds civilizations. And the practice and refinement of jewelry making has continued without interruption, often in defiance of crushing circumstances around it, for the entirety of human history. Put another way, if diamonds are a girls best friend, the art and craft of jewelry-making is at least her oldest friend.

Jewelry doesnt always include silver, gold, or other precious metals.

Most people, when hearing the term jewelry, most likely immediately think of gold, silver, or precious stones. Nevertheless, most jewelry hasnt included such expensive components, using more commonplace materials to create items of great beauty.

Many modern jewelry craftsmen, borrowing from ancient as well as more contemporary technologies and techniques, are creating fascinating and alluring works original jewelry art using enamel and fused glass. These forms of jewelry are usually pendants and brooches, and necklaces, though there are several other forms also used from time to time.

Enamel and glass fused jewelry are some of the oldest jewelry forms.

Enamel and fused glass jewelry making are some of the worlds oldest forms of jewelry creation, dating at least as far back as the ancient Egyptian and Greek empires, centuries before the Common Era. At first a very simple process that required only basic materials (as well as a hot-burning kiln), the two artistic forms waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries.

Recently, however, with the advent of the independent culture movement as well as the resurgence of alternative spirituality studies throughout most of the Western World, handmade enamel and glass fused jewelry experienced a tremendous resurgence in popularity.

Modern handmade glass fused and enamel jewelry artisans incorporate modern technology into their creation processes, often using the finest natural and synthetic ingredients in a balance that retains the essence of traditional craftsmanship with the benefits of modern materials. The result is a finished product that holds timeless beauty even while remaining durable to last for years to come.

Jewelry moving into the future

Many jewelry market experts believe handmade jewelry will continue to grow as a trend, as recent shifts in aesthetics bring a new generation of consumers to appreciate the value of the handmade and permanent over the more routine satisfactions of the mass produced. As this trend continues, many jewelry customers including especially young people will have the opportunity to commission their own glass fused and handmade enamel jewelry for themselves, not from large companies but from smaller and more dedicated craftsman selling their works in locally-owned businesses as well as online.

Gold Jewelry Tragedy In Nigeria Leads To Severe Lead Poisoning

Gold Jewelry may be beautiful, but digging up gold can be very dangerous if you dont know what youre doing. In continents like Africa, which never really got out of the idol worship polytheistic the gods are in control of everything and history has no direction mentality, have never caught up with the rest of the world. They are, and have always been, people of the land. Make your living off the land, and thats it. So much of the poor countries make their living off of what they can dig up from the earth. Gold is one of those things, and gold jewelry is what they sell. The problem is, in order to make gold jewelry, you have to first separate gold form gold ore. And usually, this ore contains lead, which you definitely dont want as part of your gold jewelry, mostly since it is lethal.

But since countries like Nigeria rely on gold jewelry markets to make their living, they have to separate the ore, and with that comes lead into their soil, and from there, lead poisoning is not far behind. And so it happened that this year, 163 people were killed by lead poisoning in a village in Nigeria, after it had been discovered that lead made up 10,000 parts per per million in the soil. Thats 1% lead. Thats really, really high, and very, very deadly. The problem with the gold jewelry mining industry is that if its not regulated and its every family for itself, the lead has nowhere to go but down and into the drinking water. Aside from 163 people dying, thousands have been effected by the adverse effects of lead poisoning. And gold jewelry isnt going to make them feel any better about it.

Right now, theyre simple taking the top soil and throwing it into plastic bags to shipped off and forever unbothered like nuclear waste. What will happen to the gold jewelry industry there remains unclear but it probably wont end, since they have no way of making money and sustaining themselves. And even if the villagers know for now that gold ore can kill you if you dont extract the gold safely, there probably wont be much regulation, since African culture is a tribal culture, and governments dont really know what theyre doing exactly. It is likely that the gold jewelry industry will be slightly more safe as individual families do what they can to protect themselves against lead poisoning, but a concerted effort to regulate the gold jewelry industry in any African country save South Africa seems far fetched.

And we cant simply go in and build infrastructure for them. Western culture cannot be forced on African culture. Any initiative will have to be their own. All we can do is warn. So if youre wearing any gold jewelry right now, appreciate it. Someone may have gone through much danger to get it to you from the Earth.

Victorian Jewelry

Many people find it hard to believe that the inception of jewelry occurred 100,000 years ago as evidenced by mollusk jewelry found in South Africa. Mollusks are small snails and clams, and their shells were used to fashion this jewelry, although it was no doubt for more functional purposes (such as holding a garment together) than it was for adorning people. In the earliest days, natural material was used, such as animal teeth, shells, bone, wood and stone.

The first period during which jewelry was used extensively to adorn people was the Georgian era beginning in the 1760’s. Larger size jewelry from the past was replaced by delicate smaller forms. It is very difficult to locate jewelry from this period, but jewelry from the Victorian period beginning in the mid 1800’s under the reign of Queen Victoria is a different story. The Victorian era ended in 1901 upon the death of the Queen.

The young Queen, who was crowned at eighteen, not only loved jewelry, but also designed it. In favor were cameos carved of conch shells by Italians. Women were known to travel to Italy to purchase necklaces, earrings, and brooches of cameo designs, and lava jewelry made from colored lava of Mt. Vesuvius. Soon the industrial revolution saw the manufacture of jewelry, and resulted in the end of the hand carving.

The Queen also got credit for the charm bracelet, and had a number of charms designed. She often gave jewelry as gifts to family and friends. Jewelry had been a status symbol of the wealthy, or to accompany fashionable outfits, but the emergence of the middle class created a demand for a larger quantities being produced. Queen Victoria continued to set the trend for other women, and her romantic nature as well as nature itself were reflected in jewelry designed with birds, hearts, butterflies, dragonflies, gemstone embellished flowers, ribbons, and bows. Jewelry containing the hair of both the living and dead was especially popular. Some of these pieces were very intricate in their design. Lockets were also used to hold the hair or pictures of the deceased.

Victoria also preferred serpent designs, a symbol of eternal love, and her engagement ring from Prince Albert in 1840 was a serpent designed with an emerald in its head. Terms of endearment such as “dearest” or “regard” often appeared on engagement rings. A brooch of sapphires and diamonds, a gift from her husband-to-be, adorned her wedding dress. The Queen also favored opals, but other affordable semi-precious stones appealed to the mass market such as amethyst, coral, pearls, turquoise and garnet. Ivory, seed pearls, bog oak, smoky quartz, jasper, agate, enamel, ,petrified wood, marble, as well as gold and silver found in Scottish jewelry were also popular with the public, as tartan plaids became fashionable after the Queen’s children started wearing them.

New finds of gold resulted in creating different methods of gold processing, and gold jewelry became more affordable. Diamonds, because of South Africa diamond mines opening, were also becoming within the reach of the middle class. In 1861, Victoria’s husband Prince Albert died, and so-called mourning jewelry made of black stones such as onyx, jet and black enamel were in vogue. They were commonly worn by relatives of the deceased. Jet was carved into necklaces, earrings, and pins. The suffragette movement was beginning and the black jewelry continued to be fashionable. Sets of jewelry were introduced during this period.

Today Victorian jewelry can be found in antique shops and at estate sales. Some reproductions of the jewelry are also sold as Victorian jewelry still has an allure for the public.