About Jewelry
The word "jewelry" is derived from the Latin word jocale, meaning "plaything"and is used to describe any piece of precious material used to adorn one's self. Students of the natural sciences are in agreement when they say that of all the creatures in the animal kingdom, only human beings seek to adorn themselves.
Before written language, or the spoken word, there was jewelry! According to archaelogists, even primitive man wore jewelry in the form of twine, stones and animal teeth and "the first spiritual want of a barbarous man is decoration". Early in its inception, jewelry was associated with religious rites. Gold and jewels were used as gifts for the maintenance of worship and as protection against occult forces. In accordance with this began the presumption that precious stones possessed magical powers and could affect the fortunes of the wearer. Amethyst, for example, was thought to sober drunks, quell sexual passion and cure baldness. Aquamarine was believed to protect seafarers, while emeralds increased fertility and intelligence. Rubies provided defense against every kind of misfortune and made hostile neighbors friendly. Medieval Europeans dreaded the opal because of its resemblance to "the Evil Eye" and it is from their fear that Sir Walter Scott, in 1829, wrote "Anne of Geierstein". In this novel, the heroine's death is attributed to the wearing of an opal, which is why, to this day, the superstition exists that it is bad luck to wear an opal unless it is your birthstone.
Soon jewelry advanced from a simple ornamental or amulet stance to a more practical one. Jewels became used as a symbol of rank, wealth and social standing and were used as love tokens. The ring is common to many cultures as the perfect symbol of love. Its unbroken shape represents eternity and has symbolized a lover's pledge since the days of early Rome. The 15th century is when the diamond ring tradition started for the first time. It happened in 1477 when Archuke Maximilian of Austria presented a gold ring set with a diamond as a token of his eternal love for his future wife, Mary of Burgundy. Though historians usually take this year as the starting point of the diamond engagement ring tradition, other things must be accounted as well. Ancient Greeks believed that the fire in a diamond will keep the flame of love alive for eternity and the Egyptians physcians believed that the vein of love ran from the fourth finger of the left hand directly to the heart.
More than just a curio from the past, jewelry, like art, is a window into the soul of humanity, and a poignant reminder of that which separates humankind from the animal kingdom-a desire to capture the essence of beauty, to possess its secrets, and to unlock its mysteries.