The Star of David, known as ‘Magen David’ in Hebrew is recognized as the symbol of Judaism. It was practiced in Israel during the Roman Empire, but came to be linked with Judaism only later. The Star of David used to be put outside the synagogues in the 17th century, as a mark of identification. However, there are no evidences as to why this symbol was chosen for this purpose. Today, Star of David is recognized universally by the Jews. The flag of Israel bears this symbol and equivalent of Red Cross is called ‘the Magen David Adom’ (In Hebrew, red means ‘Adom’.) in Israel. The Star of David is equivalent to a ‘Cross’ worn by Christians.

Another prominent symbol utilized in Jewish jewelry is ‘Hamsa’, better known as the ‘Hamesh Land’. The Hamsa can be described as the symbol which bears a hand with three raised fingers, and at times, two thumbs symmetrically arranged. The five fingers symbolize Torah’s five books. The symbol ‘Chai’ prominently seen on necklaces, is, actually the word ‘chai’, which means ‘living’ in Hebrew. This word has a Godly meaning. As per gematrian system, the summation of Chai letters comes out to be 18. It is believed that giving donations in ‘multiples of eighteen’ brings God’s blessings in abundance.

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The bangles of lac consist of an inner-core that has a covering of thin layer of superior quality lac. Core lac, when mixed with a material similar to white clay, strengthens the bangle. The heating, mixing, kneading, and hammer pounding of the entire parched ingredients takes place repeatedly and dough like mass is formed. This mass is heated and shaped further and the expansion of the lac takes place in lieu of bargained diameter. This results in thickening of bangle. A tool (flat-shaped) is used to roll the bangle across the flat surface which gives a proper thickness to the bangle. The shaping is done by suppressing the length of lac into grooves (colored) on every side of the mould. The lac takes the shape of the groove into which it is forced. Some of the accompaniments used are glass beads, flower shaped mirrors decorative wire, etc. They have gold foil decorated on the, to enhance their beauty.

International markets of lac

Lac is exported to USA and many countries of UK.

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Artisans like ‘Robert Lee Morris’ spearheaded the ‘Jewelry as art’ movement at that time in UK. It was carried further by Anoush Waddington. The initial 21st century witnessed the emergence of bling-bling jewelry style, publicized by rap and hip-hop artists.

The 20th century later saw the mixture of European proposition combined with oriental techniques like Mokume-gane. The other innovations include hydraulic die forming, fold-forming, anti-clastic raising, shell forms, anodizing of reactive metal, photoetching, PMC, use of CAD/CAM. The Metropolitan Museum is a home to all these forms of jewelry. About 17 periodicals of United States depict information about beaded jewelry alone. The other periodicals state the resources, low investment cost, and accessibility of hand made embellishments. Artisan jewelry would continue to be both, a profession and a hobby in the years to come. A set of artisan jewelry is found in Pforzheim Germany at the ‘Schmuck Museum’. Some of the famous art jewelers in the past include Man Ray, Picasso, and Calder.

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In 1804, France got its new Emperor-Napoleon Bonaparte. He invigorated the grandeur and style of fashion and jewelry in France. Under Napoleon’s reign, parures were introduced by jewelers. They also brought diamond tiara, diamond rings, diamond earrings, diamond necklace, and a diamond brooch into the world. These sets were regularly worn by both of Napoleon’s wives. Cameo was another fashion trend revamped by Napoleon. Cameos’ demand increased by leaps and bounds after his crown had been decorated by cameo. France emerged as a hub of costume jewelry during the rule of Napoleon. The stone cameos came to be replaced by the conch shell cameos or pearl cameos, containing glass beads covered with fish scale. Bijou tiers were the jewelers working with cheaper materials and joailliers were the jewelers working with costly materials.

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Hiring a diamond broker can be thought of as another alternative. The rightful diamond broker represents the concerned person and guides him/her towards the location and purchase of high quality and valuable diamonds. The broker is not the owner of diamonds, but he enacts the role of an agent. The alternatives available for him are auctions, wholesalers, diamond cutters, and private sales. This is a paid service. A stipulated fee is charged by the broker.

A diamond-broker provides a three-fold advantage: saving of time, higher quality, and lower costs. The broker brings diamonds directly to one’s doorstep. This prevents the time-wasting process of shopping around. The broker is also thoroughly knowledgeable on these counts. He can easily make out whether the diamond is reasonably priced and accurately graded. He takes the customer to the place/store where proper diamonds are obtained. This ensures the quality of the diamonds. When a broker is hired by the consumer, he/she gets the diamonds from a wholesaler, dealer, or cutter. Therefore, the consumer ends up paying fees of the broker in addition to the diamond’s wholesale cost which amounts to paying 10-20% extra of the wholesale cost. This definitely proves to be cheaper than the usual amount of 50-200% extra of the wholesale price.

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The Archaic Period

The ‘Archaic period’ followed the dictum ‘Bigger is better’. Everything, ranging from earrings to pendants was large. They were worn by both, women and men. Women actually looked like ‘Christmas Trees’. Women were largely embellished and put on huge circlets and bracelets, diadems, hair spirals, huge heavy pendants. These ornaments were worn by children and men as well.

The fourth and fifth centuries were the centuries of fashion. Paired necklaces were worn. A big necklace, with varied beads, and the other one with a huge hanging pendant were put on. The Etruscan community was also an innate lover of earrings bearing an elongated oval pendant with a tiny one hanging below it. The third century was remembered for bullae and bead necklaces along with torques, which consisted of rings made up of animal hair. At the dawn of the classical era, body jewelry came with artifacts like holding mirrors, shoes and more.

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Egypt

Ancient Egypt was the first country to show traces of established jewelry. This had happened about 3000-5000 years back. Gold was the darling of Egyptians. Ornaments were worn by them in death as well. Adornments were placed amidst the other grave goods.

Europe and The Middle East

Mesopotamia

Sumer and Akkad were the prominent cities in jewelry making about 4000 years ago. The ‘Royal Cemetery of Ur’ is archaeological evidence to this.

Greece

Gems and gold jewelry were made by the Greeks in 1400 BC. They had become experts in emerald, pearl and amethysts to be used in jewelry making. The Greeks were not all that showy. They used to wear ornaments only on exceptional occasions. Earlier, Barbarian tribes like ‘Celts’, wore jewelry which had unique designs. Later, the Roman Empire made its mark on the jewelry designs.

Medieval Period

Post-Roman Europe went on to become the hub of jewelry. Later, when the Byzantine Empire came into existence, the trend of lightweight ornaments began and still continues to be.

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The enameling techniques changed drastically with the passage of time. Today, the ancient methods are being brought back by contemporary artisans and designers. Amongst the various enameling techniques, three most popular are: guilloche, plique-a-jour, and cloisonné.

Guilloche

It’s a French technique used for turning the engine. It engraves complex circular patterns on a metallic surface. Here, the engine-turned surface has a painting of translucent enamel. The enamel color collects the lines engraved, by pooling them, and heightens the pattern making it deep and look like a sculpture.

Plique-a-jour

It’s the toughest of all the enameling techniques. Its origin traces back to the 13th century. The sunlight coming through the windows creates a marvelous and intensive rainbow. When this effect is captured in a tiny jewel, the plique-a-jour enamel is formed. Here, the gaps between bands of metal are filled with enamels of transparent nature, but it does not have the backing of metal.

Cloisonne

It is the first and the foremost method of enamelling. It has the same procedure as that of plique-a-jour, but does have metal backing. It should be noted that Cloisonne came into being first and then the other two techniques were evolved.

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This necklace comes from the kitty of designer ‘Kit Heath’. The required month can be chosen, while one stands on the circular birthstone. Accordingly, it can be presented to the kids on their birthdays. It can be described as the most magnificent way to get children smiling.

Kids’ Alphabet Beads

These beads mainly contain letters but symbols like heart, butterflies, and dots are also available. Peculiar bead bracelets and necklaces are designed to complete the kit of this kind. Kids can get their name inscribed on these beads. Colored enamel and silver are also used to make these beads.

Kids’ Silver Jewelry

This is entirely a silver set, suiting kids’ complexion. The silver necklaces and bracelets can have alphabet beads as pendants. Children’s earrings can also be made using these beads, bordered with silver. This jewelry set would prove to be a great surprise to the tiny tots.

New Marcasite and Silver Brooches

Silver brooches have had a very good reputation of being the best of gifts. Right now, two varieties of such brooches are available. The one resembling two naughty cats and the other resembling a dragon fly.

Alphabet Naming Bangle

It is named ‘Alphabet Bangle’ because all the English alphabet letters are engraved on it. This bangle has adjustable dimensions, which fit the hand perfectly. This bangle is picked up from the D-Diamonds range, as it contains a diamond and has a beautiful packing.

Celtic Jewelry

This jewelry is so called because Kit Heath, the designer, has used a very unique Celtic style of organic lines in the jewelry. Accordingly, the varieties such as Celtic bracelets, Celtic bangles, Celtic necklaces, Celtic brooches, Celtic earrings and Celtic pendants exist as of now.

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Some things have to be taken care of while purchasing auction jewelry. The quality of jewelry has to be thoroughly checked before buying. The auctioneer’s statement should not be trusted upon. The price limit should be set before the beginning of the bidding. The preset limit should be strictly adhered to. It prevents ‘buyer’s remorse’. A genuine gemologist should be hired. The auction house reports should not be relied upon. These reports do not provide complete information about the jewelry to be sold. The original price of the jewelry should be obtained from the gemologist, to decide the auction price of that jewelry. An auction serves as an opportunity to scrutinize auction jewelry without pressure. These auctions are generally held during the vacations. The Christie’s and Skinner’s are the prominent auctioneers. After the purchase of jewelry through auction, a detailed report of appraisal is provided by some gemologists. It’s preferred to contact them for safety. Overall, the auction is all about having fun. The more jovial a person is, the more pleasure he/she gets out of an auction.

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