The word “jewellery” comes from the Old French word joyail, which evolved from the Latin word iocale meaning a necklace. Jewellery may be made from a wide range of materials. Jewelry nowadays is a young woman’s ornament and it is not expensive. Diamonds are the most popular stones in jewellery for women, but other precious stones are used too. Since some of these stones have unique chemical compositions and physical characteristics, there are different types of real estate jewellery that can be made with them. Gold and silver are equally popular when it comes to making real estate jewelry. The present day craze of using gemstones in jewelry has taken us back to the days of old where precious stones were used as money or as an investment criteria in ancient times - during those times gems were perhaps more valuable than gold!
Jewellery has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings, and even genital jewellery. The patterns of wearing jewellery between the sexes, and by children and older people can vary greatly between cultures, but adult women have been the most consistent wearers of jewellery; in modern European culture the amount worn by adult males is relatively low compared with other cultures and other periods in European culture.
Jewellery, the word itself is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicised from the Old French "jouel", and beyond that, to the Latin word "jocale", meaning plaything. In British English, Indian English, New Zealand English, Hiberno-English, Australian English, and South African English it is spelled jewellery while in American English it is spelled jewelry.
Humans have used jewellery for a number of different reasons:
- Jewellery has been used as a currency or trade good, an example being the use of slave beads. Alternatively, jewellery has been made as a means to store or display coins. Numerous cultures store wedding dowries in the form of jewellery, or make jewellery as a means to store or display coins.
- The first recorded use of the word 'jewellery' comes from 1592, but brooches and buckles have been around for centuries.
- Jewellery can be made of various materials, including metal. Jewellery may also include gems, glass and other precious stones, shells, beads, leather and wood. A variety of jewellery styles can be made by using different materials and decoration techniques.
