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| Jewellery (also spelled
jewelry, see spelling differences) is a personal ornament, such as a necklace,
ring, or bracelet, made from gemstones, precious metals or other materials. |
| The word jewellery is
derived from the word jewel, which was anglicised from the Old French "jouel"
circa the 13th century. Further tracing leads back to the Latin word "jocale",
meaning plaything. Jewellery 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 jewellery. |
| Although during earlier
times jewellery 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 jewellery were made from natural materials,
such as bone, animal teeth, shell, wood and carved stone. Jewellery was
often made for people of high importance to show their status and, in many
cases, they were buried with it. |
| Jewellery has been made
to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings and many more
types of jewellery. While high-quality is made with gemstones and precious
metals, there is also a growing demand for art jewellery where design and
creativity is prized above material value. In addition, there is the less-costly
costume jewellery, made from less-valuable materials and mass-produced.
New variations include wire sculpture (wrap) jewellery, using anything
from base metal wire with rock tumbled stone to precious metals and precious
gemstones. |
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