subject: The History of Fine Gold Jewelry Design [print this page] The History of Fine Gold Jewelry Design The History of Fine Gold Jewelry Design
Gold has always been the most highly prized metal in Italian designer jewelry and remains so today. It is said to symbolize a special connection to the sun and helps promote health in mind body and spirit. Second only to gold as a metal of choice in Italian jewelry is sterling silver. Jewelers often take their passion and devote it to one specific type of metal and sterling silver is one many jewelers focus on to decorate any part of the human body. The jewelry designs from Italy continues to be unmatched because of its high quality and uniqueness. Semi-precious gemstones in rich hues add style and elegance when paired with gold and silver assuring demand never wanes.
Fine gemstone jewelry can be made with investment grade gems. Some gemstones are relatively rare and more difficult to find. The names of some of them may be unfamiliar to you, as they never reach the general market because of their limited quantities. Some investigation will be necessary to discover which gems are the most rare and sought after, and where they can be acquired. You can select from so many more fine gemstones than sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.
Although jewelry is strong, it's a metal that appeals to feminine taste as well. It's actually a metal that is very well suited for today's modern woman. Women today have a lot of task, and perform a lot of roles. They are feminine, yet strong. Fine platinum jewelry expresses this very well. When woman wears a nice piece of platinum jewelry, she can look elegant, and yet wear a piece of jewelry that will hold up for everyday wear and tear.
There are pieces of fine sterling jewelry y for every personality. If the person is looking for something classic and delicate, they might gravitate towards a nice chain bracelet, necklace, or stud earrings. If a person's taste is more cosmopolitan, they might want a chunky choker, or a heartier necklace of intricate design. Silver jewelry is the jewelry of choice for artist, especially musicians. It would be hard to find an artist not sporting a hand full of large and chunky silver rings, and bracelets. Even when they wear earrings and piercings on their body, rest assured the jewelry is made out of silver. While gold is also a fine material for jewelry, it's doesn't give the wearer a down-to-earth presentation. Nothing works for artist like the earthiness of silver. For the sophisticate, silver is something unexpected, yet cool and chic. It matches every color that a person might wear, and is especially flattering for the rich, sensual colors that sophisticates and the highbrow like to wear.
Officially the emerald belongs to the beryl family. Other exotic beryl family members include morganite, aquamarine and heliodor. Constitutionally emeralds are made up of aluminum, beryllium and silicates. It is traces of chromium and vanadium that are responsible for the green color. Aluminum, beryllium and silicates are rarely found in the same place as chromium or vanadium unless there has been a big earthquake or a similar shift in the earth's crust to force the elements to merge and produce green colored beryls. Many emeralds contain small bubbles of gas or inclusions that are testimony to their violent geological origins. The more jardin (cracks and fissures) that emeralds contain, the older it is. These fissures, bubbles and other inclusions only really lower the value of an emerald if they affect its color or spoil its transparency.
One early example of diamond jewelry in the West was actually a crown made for a Hungarian princess well over 1000 years ago. One of the first diamond wedding ring was the one given to Marie of Burgundy on the occasion of her wedding to Archduke Maximilian I of Austria in 1477. It wasn't until over fifty years later however, during the reign of Henry VIII of England that diamond cutting had reached a level that was suitable for jewelry such as diamond earrings.
Moving forward to the late 1800's, jewelry production started to move to America and Australia, and resulted in lower quality standards. Resistance to the lesser quality pieces prompted jewelers such as Tiffany to begin to make very high quality fine jewelry. By the early 1900's, we began to see recognizable names influencing the mass produced jewelry industry. Designers such as Rene Lalique, Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and Napier made fake or faux jewelry fun and fashionable. This faux jewelry was more commonly known as cocktail jewelry, or costume jewelry, thus popularizing the term.
Bridge jewelry is a unique and affordable addition to your jewelry collection. You may see some familiar names in galleries or fine department stores and begin to recognize them as producers of Bridge jewelry. When you attend an art show, take a special look at the jewelry and you will recognize that much of it is fine artisan-made Bridge jewelry. It can provide you a good value because of the combination of quality materials; creativity and workmanship provided by the designers of these unique one-of-a-kind or limited edition pieces.
There are many advantages to shopping early. This gives you the most time to think about what you would like to give as a gift, rather than picking from what is left over. While a narrowed selection is more comfortable for some people, there is something about knowing that you have chosen a perfect gift that is worth the extra effort. Quality matters quite a bit. I've seen people buy what they are told are "milk diamonds", when in fact what they have is a very cloudy, flawed diamond. No sparkle or beauty at all. When possible, you should get at least a basic idea as to the quality of diamonds you are purchasing. For single stones this can be specific, with a fully rated stone, while multiple stones may be best described with a range.
