Jewelry

Jewelery is a personal ornament, such as a necklace, ring or bracelet, made from gemstones, precious metals or other materials.

The word jewelery is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicised from the Old French "jouel" round the 13th century. It has also been suggested that the word is derived from "Jew", as the Jews were important jewelry artisans of that time. Further tracing leads back to the Latin word "jocale", meaning plaything. Jewelery 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 jewelery.

Although during earlier times jewelery was created for practical uses such as wealth, storage and pinning clothes together, in recent times it has been used almost exclusively for decoration. The first pieces of jewelery were made from natural materials, such as bone, animal teeth, shell, wood and carved stone. Jewelery was often made for people of high importance to show their status and, in many cases, they were buried with it.

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

Originally, costume or fashion jewelry was made of inexpensive simulated gemstones, such as rhinestones or lucite, set in pewter,silver, nickel or brass. Modern costume jewelry incorporates a wide range of materials. High end crystals, CZs or cubic zirconia simulated diamonds, and some semi-precious stones are used in place of precious stones. Metals include gold- or silver-plated brass, and sometimes vermeil or sterling silver. Lower-priced jewelry may still use gold plating over pewter, nickel or other metals; items made in countries outside the United States may contain lead. Some pieces incorporate plastic, acrylic, leather, or wood.

The term costume jewelry dates back to the early 20th century. It may reflect the use of the word "costume" to refer to what is now called an "outfit"; for example, a "handsome street costume of maroon brown velvet". Thus the jewelry worn with everyday fashion (costumes) grew to be known as "costume jewelry." Another theory is that the term refers to the jewelry worn in theatrical productions.

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