Category Archives: Historical Jewelry

Cameo Jewelry

The History Of Cameo

Cameo

Basically, cameo is a method of carving, or an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel made in this manner. While the exact origin of the first cameo is unknown, the style dates back to ancient Greece and Rome when cameos depicted morals and themes from mythology. Cameos came back into fashion largely through the interest shown in them by Empress Josephine, Napoleon’s first wife. Her jewelry collection included several cameo tiaras, one of which is still owned by Sweden’s royal family today. Throughout the subsequent generations, the cameo has been transformed into a delicate form of art and treasured piece of jewelry. The antique cameo jewelry we value today usually features intricately carved profiles.

During the Victorian Era, (1837-1901) every decade had its jewelry trends, but the cameo remained a favourite. And interestingly, the intaglio, which was a piece carved below the surface, came before the cameo. In ancient times, the intaglio was used to seal papers or to mark property. Later on, it became a jewelry item worn by women. The cameo is the opposite of the intaglio. It is a portrait or scene carved in relief with a contrasting colored background. In the Nineteenth Century, skilled artisans utilized gemstones, stone, shell, lava, coral and manmade materials to produce cameos.

Cameos are made from a variety of materials. Mother-of-pearl, coral, agate, and more than 25 types of shells are all commonly used because of the availability and the ease with which they can be carved. Much of the world’s hand-carved, antique cameo jewelry comes from the small town of Torro del Greco, located on the Bay of Naples in Italy. The craftsmen in this town use a carving style that dates back thousands of years to create unique, ornate pieces that are used in many forms of jewelry.

Discoveries of archaeological sites in Italy and Egypt renewed an interest in the classics that influenced cameos of the Victorian Era. Motifs included gods and goddesses from mythology and other subjects related to them, such as Bacchante maidens adorned with grape leaves in their hair, the Three Graces, who were the daughters of Zeus, and Leda, a woman shown feeding Zeus and more.

Cameos are set in a variety of jewelry styles, creating unique pieces that often become family heirlooms. Cameo brooches were a common fixture on the collars of women during the Victorian era. Because many antique cameo brooches often feature both a pendant bale and a pin, many antique cameo necklaces are actually brooches worn on a chain as a pendant.

For the past 25 years, carvers in Germany have produced cameos using the laser technique. It may feel rough to the touch. To learn about cameos, it is important to handle them. This allows the collector to feel, and tap them slightly against the teeth to identify whether they are made of stone, shell or other materials.

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Chatelaine And The Remain History

Chatelaine, contains the notebook, a pocket knife, perfume holder, pocket mirror, a photo locket, and powder.

Chatelaine

Chatelaine is a decorative belt hook or clasp worn at the waist with a series of chains suspended from it. Originally, ‘Chatelaine’ is the French (female) word for a woman who is the ‘keeper’ of a castle or country house. This person, therefore, guarded the keys to a home, during Medieval times, and managed servants, the financial budget for the home and kept the associated books of financial statements.

A chatelaine is a clasp, worn as an ornament of jewellery, on which to hang items which were necessary for daily use, such as scissors, a fob watch, a pen and keys. It was able to be hung from a belt, pocket or girdle, and was originally used by both women and men, though over time they became highly fashionable for women.

Chatelaines were worn by many housekeepers, they were also worn by Anglo Saxon women, as seen from the burial record. Their use first began in England, during the 17th century, gaining their strongest popularity during the 18th-19th centuries.

Chatelaines have been made from several different materials. The most expensive were fashioned from gold, though there are examples made of cut steel, silver, brass and ‘pinchbeck’, which is a cheaper yellow alloy. Some were highly decorated with enamelling or beads, and inlaying was popular. Diamonds, gem stones and Wedgwood cameos were used, for example, though many other decorative elements were also incorporated.

Their popularity declined into the 19th century, and by the middle of this century, chatelaines were used as a functional item rather than as fashionable jewellery.

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Belly Chain

Belly Chain

Belly Chain

A belly chain or waist chain is a type of body jewelry worn around the waist. Some belly chains attach to a navel piercing; these are also called “pierced belly chains”. They are often made of silver or gold. Sometimes a thread is used around waist instead of a chain.

A belly chain is a common adornment for belly dancers, belly chains are fun additions to anyones jewelry collection. A belly chain can be also referred to as a waist chain. Though it has become a popular item of jewelry amongst most young people it is made for men, women, and dancers of all ages. Belly chains can be worn over some outfits too.

They are available in various sizes. Some pieces are made to be quite adjustable, ranging from 20 to 40 inches. Single line elegant belly chain is available in sterling silver with buckles to adjust to various waist sizes. Solid gold chains are also available, but because this precious metal is fairly soft they are not worn long. For your own perfect fit, you’re going to need a tape measure.

A waist chain can be polished beads, crystals or semi-precious stones. Belly chains with beads are grouped together with wide variety of beads. Some belly chains come with dangling pendants.

Waist chains have often been heavier in design, usually featuring metal discs and coins designed to jingle at times with the music for belly dancers. Modern styles have changed, and now array of belly chain designs are worn with many fashions that show a bare midriff. They look best when they ride just above your hip bones.

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History Of Bangles

Bangles

Bangles

Bangles or Chudi are traditional ornaments worn by Indian women, especially Hindus. They are circular in shape, and, unlike bracelets, are not flexible. The word is derived from Hindi bungri (glass) They are made of numerous precious as well as non-precious materials such as gold, silver, platinum, glass, wood, ferrous metals, plastic, etc.

The Indian women are worn after marriage to signify matrimony. It is tradition that the bride will try to wear as many small glass bangles as possible at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks. In certain communities, there is a custom which says that gold bangles should not be worn alone by married women and should be teamed with glass bangles, popularly known as ‘kaanch ki choodiya’, as it symbolizes well-being of husband and sons. In some communities women are so superstitious, that even when changing bangles, they never allows their arm to be completely bare. A simple string or even the end of her sari is wrapped around the arm, until the new set is worn. In certain communities, widows are not allowed to wear glass bangles.

There are strong evidences that shows that women have been adorning their arms with bangles since ancient times in India. One of the oldest art objects in India, the bronze figurine of a dancing girl excavated at Mohanjodaro epitomizes the antiquity and the universality of wrist ornaments in India. The figurine stands in the nude with one arm at her hip, the other arm completely weighed down with a collection of bangles. Even the Yakshinis are depicted wearing bangles.

Ancient fragments testify that bangles were made from terracotta, stone, shell, copper, bronze, gold, silver, lac, glass and almost any material that lent itself to craftsmanship. From simple plain circlets of metal, to ones decorated with etched and exquisite designs of bird and animal-head terminals and studded with gems, bangles in various forms existed in ancient in India.

There are two basic types of bangles: a solid cylinder type; and a split, cylindrical spring opening/closing type. Primary distinguishing factor for these is the material that is used to make the bangles. This may vary anything from glass to jade to metal to lac and even rubber or plastic. Bangles made from gold are considered the most expensive ones.

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Arm Ring

Arm Ring

Arm Ring

An arm ring, also known as an armlet or an armband, is a band of metal, usually a precious metal, worn as an ornament around the biceps of the upper arm. The arm ring is similar to a bracelet or bangle, though it must be shaped and sized to fit snugly to the upper arm.

Historically, the arm ring was commonly worn by men, and often a ring in bronze age heroic literature would refer to an arm ring, rather than a finger ring. However, in Celtic iron-age literature, “ring” would also refer to a torc.

Sri Lankan history notes that brides wore armlets to ward off ill luck. However, the armlet can be more eye-catching when it is made of gold or silver and is studded with gems. Men in ancient Sri Lanka also wore the jewellery, and Kandyan drummers can be seen wearing the jewellery as a tradition even today. Women wear arm rings for special occasions like weddings and Bharatanatyam dance.

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The History Of Crystal

Crystal Jewelry

Crystal

In science, a crystal is a solid substance in which the atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The word crystal is a loan from the ancient Greek word (krustallos), which had the same meaning, but according to the ancient understanding of crystal. At root it means anything congealed by freezing, such as ice. The word once referred particularly to quartz, or “rock crystal”. Most metals encountered in everyday life are polycrystals. Crystals are often symmetrically intergrown to form crystal twins.

The history of crystal dates back thousands of years to the Mesopotamian times. Lead oxide was used to enhance the brilliance of glass as used today, but applied in differently. This was an alternate to the popular rock crystal which was more expensive, harder to cut and less refractive.

In the year 1676, George Ravenscroft revolutionized the methods of adding the lead oxide, which brought lead crystal a major step closer to it’s mass production of today.

In 1892, Daniel Swarovski invented a machine to cut jewelry stones perfectly. In 1895, he moved his company, known as Swarovski, from Bohemia to the Wattens, Austria where he used the Rhine River as a source of energy to run the company’s machinery. From here the name “Rhinestone” was born. Today the word “rhinestone” is used for leaded crystal coming from any country though.

Swarovski is the highest quality crystal stone manufacturer in the world today. Stones are made in many other countries other than Austria as well, most notably Czechoslovakia, Germany, China, Israel and others.

Crystals are used for healing, meditation, energy work, storing information, protection, grounding, and channeling. Many have specific shapes such as crystal skulls and singing crystal bowls, used for healing, balancing, awakening, and scrying.

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Gold Rose

Gold Rose

Gold Rose

Fashionable rose gold is created when yellow gold is mixed (alloyed) with a tiny amount of copper to give a rosy colour to the gold. It is also known as pink gold, and red gold.

Pure gold is yellow in color, colored gold can be developed into various colors. These colors are generally obtained by alloying gold with other elements in various proportions. In White gold is an alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel, manganese or palladium. Like yellow gold, the purity of white gold is given in karats.

While, Rose gold is a gold and copper alloy widely used for specialized jewelry. It is also known as pink gold and red gold. As it was popular in Russia at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it is also known as Russian gold, although this term has become somewhat rare.

Many goldsmiths used the words rose, red and pink interchangeably and the difference is the copper content. The higher the copper content, the stronger the red coloration as pure Gold is yellow and pure copper is reddish.

For instance:

75% Gold + 25% copper by mass = Rose Gold (18ct)
50% Gold + 50% copper by mass = Red Gold

Rose gold has all the same properties as yellow gold and is perfect for any kind of jewellery including bracelets, necklaces, rings and earrings. Rose gold watches are also very fashionable at the moment.
Rose gold is available in up to 22 carat weight and is sometimes known as Crown gold.

Rose gold become fashionable since the 19th century, particularly in Russia, it is now popular all over the world. Russian wedding rings combine white, yellow and rose gold to symbolise unity and the elements.

Hot demand for colored Gold amongst celebrities has made the Gold Rose shade rings more readily available. Katies Holmes engagement ring from Tom Cruise has a Rose Gold crown. Much attention is focused on this little known alloy on the couples’ controversial knots. Some loving couples even add pink diamonds to an exquisite and precious Rose Gold ring to add a romantic shade.


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History Of Platinum

Platinum

Platinum

Platinum, its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into “little silver of the Pinto River.” It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal.

Although the modern history of platinum only begins in the 18th century, platinum has been found in objects dating from 700 BC, in particular the famous Casket of Thebes (see image). This little box is decorated with hieroglyphics in gold, silver and an alloy of the platinum group metals. Platinum is a rare, scarce and costly metal and it shows certain properties which make it unique. The specific chemical and physical properties of this metal are of essential use for many different applications. Platinum is known as the environmental metal.

As a matter of fact, approximately 20% of the goods manufactured in the world contain platinum or are produced using platinum. For the Spanish Conquistadors of the 16th century, platinum was a nuisance. While panning for gold in New Granada they were puzzled by some white metal nuggets which were mixed with the nuggets of gold and which were difficult to separate. The Spanish called this metal Platina, a diminutive of Plata, the Spanish word for silver.

Some thought that the platinum was a sort of unripe gold, so that for many years it had no value except as a means of counterfeiting. In the 18th century platinum was a tough challenge to European scientists trying to understand and use the metal. Their difficulties came from the very properties which make platinum suitable for so many applications, such as its high melting point and its great resistance to corrosion. The problems were compounded by the other metals of the platinum group, which were present in raw platinum in varying quantities.

In 1751, a Swedish researcher named Sheffer succeeded in melting platinum by adding arsenic to it. He also recognised platinum as a new element. In 1782, Lavoisier achieved the first true melting of platinum using oxygen, which had recently been discovered; even so, it was another 25 years before commercial quantities of platinum could be produced by this method. During this period, platinum was used for the decoration of porcelain as well as for making laboratory ware and ornaments.

During 1802, Wollaston and Tennant developed refining of platinum and discovered palladium, followed in 1804 by rhodium, iridium and osmium. Meanwhile Wollaston perfected a method of producing malleable platinum. Grove studied the catalytic properties of platinum and in 1842 devised the very first fuel cell using platinum electrodes. In England, Percival Norton Johnson began work on refining the platinum group metals. He took as his apprentice in 1838 George Matthey, and this collaboration gave birth to the partnership of Johnson and Matthey in 1851. The two men perfected the techniques of separation and refining of platinum group metals and the melting and casting of pure and homogeneous ingots. Matthey went on to create the standard metre in platinum and iridium, at the request of the French Academy of Science, in 1879.

Platinum mine production has grown continuously since the Second World War in response to the development of new applications. One of the principal new uses of platinum was in the petroleum industry, where platinum catalysts were introduced to increase the octane rating of gasoline and to manufacture important primary feedstocks for the growing plastics industry.

During the 1960s, demand for platinum in jewellery experienced a spectacular rise in Japan, appealing to the Japanese public by virtue of its purity, colour, prestige and value. Platinum jewellery later succeeded in penetrating other markets – in Germany in the 1970s, Switzerland and Italy in the 1980s and the United Kingdom, the USA and China – today the world’s biggest single market for platinum jewellery – in the 1990s.

By the 1990s, platinum was growing in use as a medical treatment against certain forms of cancer and the same decade saw a multiplication in the uses of machined platinum alloy components (as seen right) to treat cardiac and other disease.

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The History Of Gold

History Of Gold

Gold

A child finds a shiny rock in a creek, thousands of years ago, and the human race is introduced to gold for the first time. It was the people in the area of the Transylvanian Alps or around Mount Pangaion in Thrace who first mined it and began to use it for decorative purposes. Being a decoration, it was appreciated probably because of it’s color and shine. It is so different from the plain dirt of the earth in color and texture. It is not like rocks, even the colorful ones because of it’s malleability. Gold shines even when it is not wet. It is not like some other metals in that it does not rust or change appearance. It seemed to be the perfect material for decorative purposes and indeed may have inspired the idea of decoration in the first place.

Gold has a long and complex history. From gold’s first discovery, it has symbolized wealth and guaranteed power. Gold has caused obsession in men and nations, destroyed some cultures and gave power to others.

Gold became a part of every human culture. Its brilliance, natural beauty, and luster, and its great malleability and resistance to tarnish made it enjoyable to work and play with.

Because gold is dispersed widely throughout the geologic world, its discovery occurred to many different groups in many different locales. And nearly everyone who found it was impressed with it, and so was the developing culture in which they lived.

The Persian Empire, in what is now Iran, made frequent use of Gold in artwork as part of the religion of Zoroastrianism. Persian goldwork is most famous for its animal art, which was modified after the Arabs conquered the area in the 7th century AD.

When Rome began to flourish, the city attracted talented Gold artisans who created gold jewelry of wide variety. The use of gold in Rome later expanded into household items and furniture in the homes of the higher classes. By the third century AD, the citizens of Rome wore necklaces that contained coins with the image of the emperor. As Christianity spread through the European continent, Europeans ceased burying their dead with their jewelry. As a result, few gold items survive from the Middle Ages, except those of royalty and from church hoards.

In the Americas, the skill of Pre-Columbian cultures in the use of Gold was highly advanced long before the arrival of the Spanish. Indian goldsmiths had mastered most of the techniques known by their European contemporaries when the Spanish arrived. They were adept at filigree, granulation, pressing and hammering, inlay and lost-wax methods. The Spanish conquerors melted down most of the gold that they took from the peoples of this region and most of the remaining examples have come from modern excavations of grave sites. The greatest deposits of gold from these times were in the Andes and in Columbia.

The rise of a gold standard was meant to stabilize the global economy, dictating that a nation must limit its issued currency to the amount of gold it held in reserve. Great Britain was the first to adopt the gold standard in 1821, followed, in the 1870s, by the rest of Europe followed. The system remained in effect until the end of the first world war, after which the US was the only country still honoring the Gold Standard. After the war, other countries were allowed to keep reserves of major currencies instead of gold. The arrival of the great depression marked the end of the U.S. export of gold in the 1930s. By mid 20th century, the US dollar had replaced gold in international trade.


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The History Of Silver

The History Of Silver

Silver

Silver was discovered after gold and copper about 4000 BC, when it was used in jewelry and as a medium of exchange. The earliest known workings of significant size were those of the pre-Hittites of Cappadocia in eastern Anatolia. Silver is generally found in the combined state in nature, usually in copper or lead mineralization, and by 2000 BC mining and smelting of silver-bearing lead ores was under way.

The best-known of the ancient mines were located at the Laurium silver-lead deposit in Greece; this was actively mined from 500 BC to AD 100. Spanish mines were also a major source. the Athenians found an enormous silver mine right near Athens, on land that belonged to the government. This mine was what paid to build Athens’ first navy, and helped Athens to become a powerful city-state.
Another famous set of mines were in southern Spain.

Another famous set of mines were in southern Spain. These mines were already being worked in the Bronze Age. After the First Punic War, in the 250’s BC, the Carthaginians took over these mines and used the income from them to pay the money the Romans demanded. Then in the Second Punic War the Romans took over these mines and used the money they got from the mines to pay for more conquests.

People first mined silver in the Bronze Age, for jewelry. Silver was pretty easy to find all over Europe and West Asia. The big problem was, silver ore, which is the rocks that had silver in them, generally also had lead in it, so that lead mining and silver mining were the same thing. But lead is very poisonous, so the men who were mining the silver were also being poisoned by the lead. Most lead-and-silver miners died of lead poisoning in two or three years. Because of this, most free men wouldn’t work in the mines, and so they forced slaves to work in the mines instead.

In the mid-19th century a large silver deposit was discovered in Nevada. This resulted in the United States becoming the world’s largest silver producer until the 20th century, when it was surpassed by Mexico and South America (particularly Peru).

Since the early begin, silver has some various used among the civilization. Silver, in the form of electrum (a gold-silver alloy), was coined to produce money in around 700 BC by the Lydians. Later, silver was refined and coined in its pure form. Many nations used silver as the basic unit of monetary value.

Sterling silver jewelry is often plated with a thin coat of .999 fine silver to give the item a shiny finish. This process is called “flashing”. Silver jewelry can also be plated with rhodium (for a bright, shiny look) or gold. Silver is such a malleable metal, silversmiths have a large range of choices with how they prefer to work the metal.

Silver is much cheaper than gold, though still valuable, and so is very popular with jewelers who are just starting out and cannot afford to make pieces in gold, or as a practicing material for goldsmith apprentices. Silver has also become very fashionable, and is used frequently in more artistic jewelry pieces.

Silver can be alloyed with mercury, tin and other metals at room temperature to make amalgams that are widely used for dental fillings. To make dental amalgam, a mixture of powdered silver and other metals is mixed with mercury to make a stiff paste that can be adapted to the shape of a cavity. The dental amalgam achieves initial hardness within minutes but sets hard in a few hours.

Mirrors which need superior reflectivity for visible light are made with silver as the reflecting material in a process called silvering, though common mirrors are backed with aluminium.

Silver and silver alloys are used in the construction of high quality musical wind instruments of many types. Flutes, in particular, are commonly constructed of silver alloy or silver plated, both for appearance and for the frictional surface properties of silver.

Hippocrates, the “father of medicine”, wrote that silver had beneficial healing and anti-disease properties, and the Phoenicians used to store water, wine, and vinegar in silver bottles to prevent spoiling. In the early 1900s people. Silver ions and silver compounds show a toxic effect on some bacteria, viruses, algae and fungi, typical for heavy metals like lead or mercury, but without the high toxicity to humans that are normally associated with these other metals. Its germicidal effects kill many microbial organisms in vitro, but testing and standardization of silver products is difficult.

Silver inhibits the growth of bacteria and fungi and thus is added to clothing, such as socks, to reduce odor and the risk of bacterial and fungal infection. Silver is incorporated into clothing or shoes either by integrating silver nanoparticles into the polymer from which yarns are made or by coating yarns with silver.

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