by Celine Araujo

Created on: October 04, 2008   Last Updated: October 20, 2008

Ah, precious gems. They sparkle, they shine, they brighten up our lives and they sure cost a lot. All throughout mankind's history, spanning thousands of years, we have adorned ourselves with trinkets of gold, silver, bronze, copper, enamel, glass, and precious and semi precious stones. So when did this fascination with adornment begin?

We know that jewellery has been skilfully crafted for thousands of years, starting first perhaps with the ancient Egyptians. Many other cultures displayed notable skill in the art of jewellery making, including the Middle Eastern countries of the second and third millennia, the Byzantines, and the ancient Greeks and Romans. Beautiful jewellery was also created during the Renaissance and in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Nowadays, which jewels do we consider the most precious?

Diamond: a result of carbon subjected to intense pressure and heat, diamonds have been prized throughout all of history. The hardest known substance on earth, as well as one of the most beautiful, diamonds are often inlayed in engagement rings, earrings, and necklaces.

Emerald: this gemstone too has been around for a very long time, dating back thousands of years. It is prized for its deep green colour and is relatively durable, although emeralds contain natural fissures which make them fragile, and so they are often immersed in oil and dipped in resin when used in jewellery to avoid brittleness.

Opal: with some opals as old as 60 million years, opals have been adored for millennia, particularly by the Greeks and Romans who thought it was a symbol of innocence and purity. Found in a wide range of colours, from white to black, reddish to bluish-green, opals are still prized today.

Ruby: with its deep red colour, the ruby has been admired by many cultures for ages, symbolizing love and passion. The ruby is the next strongest gem after diamonds, and is often used to make many different jewellery pieces.

Sapphire: a precious gem that can be found in a rainbow of colours including green, orange, pink and purple, sapphires are just as strong as rubies and are found in just about every type of jewellery. The most sought after shade is blue.

Although traditional jewellery items such as necklaces and earrings are still big sellers today, new applications for jewellery have arisen in our modern area. There are many applications for jewellery that are now popular that did not exist in the past, such as belly button, nose, cartilage, tongue, and eyebrow piercings that require their own specialized jewellery.

As well, we have learned to use new materials for jewellery in modern times, such as titanium, platinum, and cubic zirconia. Precious metals are now used for applications other than jewellery, such as tableware, electrical contacts, dentistry, laboratory hardware, medical devices, manufacturing and automotive parts.

As time progressed, the creation of costume jewellery (jewellery made from cheaper materials such as plastic, glass and base metals) became refined to an art form, and as a result jewellery became less expensive and more widely available to the public. Today anyone of any social rank can easily and affordably wear many types of jewellery.

So as you can see, although jewellery has evolved over the millennia, and precious jewels and metals are now applied in many different ways, one thing remains the same: we always have and always will feel the need to adorn ourselves. In other words, jewellery is here to stay.

Learn more about this author, Celine Araujo.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.