Ancient Jewelry is Becoming Tremendously Popular

Wearable antiquities are becoming tremendously popular especially ancient jewelry and seals. While many fledging collectors are thrilled to own small bronze statuettes, ancient jewelry is often smaller and the silver and gold pieces more spectacular and the ancient jewelry category are still quite undervalued in the art market. Therefore if you want something that is unique and has a history behind it, look into ancient jewelry. Despite the thoughts of ancient jewelry being incredibly expensive, not all of it is. However, considering the skills of people from the ancient Egyptian times as well as other time periods, some ancient jewelry was made flawlessly. The ancient jewelry from all corners of the world, especially Egypt and Greece has a very profound message to deliver to later generations. Unlike ancient jewelry crosses worn by individuals, processional crosses were used in battle and in ritual where one was carried and leading many followers. Roman jewelry was massive with ropes of pearls highly prized and medieval jewelry included very large brooches. Roman jewelry is generally priced lower than more rare Egyptian and Greek jewelry, because it is more plentiful on the market. Most early Roman jewelry resembled Greek and Etruscan jewelry. Rings, of all Roman jewelry, held a singular and symbolic position in Ancient Rome. Those rings etched with special intaglios made a significant part of Roman jewelry, while other rings might hold an inscribed motto dear to the wearer's heart. After the fall of Rome, Roman jewelry forms and techniques remained in general use. Although early Roman jewelry style borrowed from established Greek and Etruscan design, new motifs such as the Heracles knot (two loops intertwined) with an apostrophic figurine for averting evil spirits or bad luck was introduced. In addition, as Roman jewelry freed itself of Hellenistic and Etruscan influences, greater use was made of colored stones such as, topazes, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and pearls. Ancient seals were generally engraved with a design to be impressed on wax or damp clay. Ancient jewelry is unique because it has a real mystery and romance. "Perhaps more than anything else, the allure of ancient jewelry lies in those loveliest secrets and wondrous methods of the great art of goldsmithing," wrote the famous Renaissance sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. The best preserved and most prevalent ancient jewelry was made of gold, the material long considered the ultimate expression of rank and beauty. Through the early Middle Ages, most better-quality ancient jewelry was crafted of 22- to 24-karat gold, which is characterized by a warm, rich yellow tone. The scarab or beetle amulet, which was either cast in gold or sculpted in clay and gemstones, became an enduring design motif that spread throughout the ancient world. Mycenae, the ancient Grecian city ruled by King Agamemnon, was the center for jewelry production in the 2nd millennium B. In ancient Greece and Rome, seal rings and portrait seals engraved with the owner's likeness became widespread. As with all ancient jewelry, examples with more complex designs, large numbers of gemstones and more intricate carving usually collect the highest prices. The Ancient Greeks were aficionados of jewelry, wearing simple to complex jewelry often complemented with effigies of the Greek Gods Eros, Nike, Artemis, Isis and Aphrodite. Most early Roman jewelry resembled Greek and Etruscan jewelry. Rings, of all Roman jewelry, held a singular and symbolic position in Ancient Rome. The ancient Egyptians commonly inlaid gold and silver with semi-precious stones such as carnelian, jasper, amethyst, turquoise and lapis lazuli. Scarabs, representations of the scarab beetle carved in stone, were also popular in ancient Egypt and Rome. Therefore as you can see ancient jewelry has its alluring charm and the interesting thing it is still very much available in today's marketplace.

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Advice For Buying Fine Jewelry

A bench jeweler is responsible for repairs on customer jewelry. They have gemological training but are a bit out of date on pricing, etc. First of all, consider the term "chips". Folks often speak of little diamonds as being chips when in fact most are cut diamonds. Modern production methods almost require fairly consistent diamond shapes for quick stone setting and chips are not the ticket for that! Bench jewelers routinely set very small stones from perhaps 1/2 point upward. A diamond of 1/2 point is 0.005 carats. In comparison, a pair of earrings with a total weight of 80 points would need 40 points per earring. If using 1/2 pointers, that would be 80 diamonds per earring! Yes, even the 1/2 point stones are cut, not chips. More than likely, earrings like you mentioned would use stones of 1 point or 2 points. This would mean 40 stones or 20 per earring. Small diamonds set in pave or with many stones together as in earring with many diamonds are quality graded. The cut is apparently not so critical as color and clarity. You have likely seen diamonds with a white look? These stone have no reflection from inside the stone and only sparkle from the surface faces cut on the stones. These stones have a very, very low clarity grade. Then again, the diamonds may have plenty of sparkle from within the stones, light reflected from the inside of the stones with the facets (cut faces) on the back reflecting the light back to your eye. This is what you want. Decent clarity is needed and I suggest stones of the SI to I1 grade. In small stones, I1 is fine generally and dark spots are not really seen. Still, look for good return of light from within the diamonds. Some better earrings have higher clarity stones and the earrings will look slightly more brilliant. Ask if they have any idea of the clarity of the diamonds. Color is important. Often, to gain clarity and use stone relatively free of dark spots, manufacturers will use a stone of lower color grade. This means the earrings may have well selected fairly clean stones of a brownish or yellowish color. At first, you do not see this color but it is apparent when held next to diamonds of a higher (so called "whiter" or less colored) grade. If the stones have a slight tinge of brown or yellowish, look for a better grade. Ask if the stones are of good color or slightly off color. Go for better color without the brown or yellow tones. Much of this is up to your own eye. Also, if you loose a stone, off color stones are more difficult to match up for a replacement! The single cut stones are more round overall in top view. Still the number of facets is the same. Full cut stones will have more sparkle and life to your eye. Stones of 1 point or more are better in appearance if full cut. Ask if the stones are single cut or full cut stones. Quality for earrings like you describe runs from very good to frankly very bad. Bench jewelers often do resizing services for national department stores. Much of the jewelry was tagged with a higher price and a "sale" price of about 50% off. The 50% off price is about what the jewelry was worth. But would I get any for my wife? No! Why? So many of the sparkling jewelry was very poorly made. Bench jewelers must clean jewelry before any soldering as for sizing a ring may be done and at least one of three of the rings from that store lost stones in the ultrasonic cleaner before we did anything! The prettiness of the jewelry went away because of the poor workmanship. Workmanship is difficult to judge when you are not in the business. Ask how the stones are set into the metal. If they say "channel set" ask to look through magnification. A real channel set has the sides of the channel pressed down onto the edges of the stone. A fake channel set has a channel for the stones but the stones are held in by little pieces of metal (a small pick of metal) from the inside channel walls pushed down, one little chip of metal on each side of the stone. This is "pick" setting and is very common in lower quality jewelry making. Do not get pick set stones or you will be losing stones. Ask the clerk to clean the items you are considering. Ask if they have an ultrasonic machine and that you would like the earrings cleaned for a few minutes in the machine. This will take off finger smudges and let you see the actual sparkle and color of the diamonds better. Also, if stones are not securely set, there is a chance some will come out in the cleaner! That is not a foolproof test but a good start. Do not hesitate to ask to have the jewelry cleaned in an ultrasonic before you pull out your check book or plastic card! Ask if the stones are set securely and if they have had any problems with lost stones from that line of jewelry. This is a reasonable question. Often, jewelry with many little stones is not set securely in the first place. Better quality items will go a lifetime with no problems at all. In small stones or large, yellow gold holds stone safely as does white gold. Perhaps platinum is the best overall. If you do not want the dull look platinum get after a while, go with white gold since white is your choice. What makes the yellow and white different is hardness. Generally, white gold is harder than yellow and may wear a bit better over time. When we set into yellow gold, we allow more thickness on the settings to account for this. White gold has problems if you are not careful. Any chlorine such as in swimming pools and hot tubs will work havoc on most white gold. This is because most white gold has nickel to make the gold look white. The effect is a weakening of the make up of the white gold recipe. Exposure to chlorine in strength or repeated at a swimming pool can actually lead to white gold prongs literally falling off. White gold holds stones well but avoid the chlorine! Unless you want platinum earrings, white gold is just fine. This will last and last and keep shine platinum will not keep. Just keep it clean and away from chlorine! Bottom Line, deal with a business which is a jewelry store first, not a department within another store.(There are exceptions. Ask if they service their jewelry and have bench jeweler "in house".) If the business has a good reputation, that is one to try first.

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A Closer Look At The Legacy Of Egyptian Jewelry

The Egyptian culture is steeped with a rich history going back thousands of years. Long ago pharaohs were buried with much of their wealth as a sign of their importance. One of the most significant and lasting legacies of the ancient Egyptians is the beautiful jewelry and other ornaments that have survived to present day. Often these adornments were fashioned with religious symbols and icons, or they were more personal to tell the story about a single person or event. Most of the more famous pharaohs' tombs have been discovered in the last century and there has been a renewed fascination with the ancient styles. The makers of the pharaoh's jewelry are long gone, but fine examples of the originals can be seen in museum displays around the world. It has taken time to compile these wondrous exhibits because of ancient looters who had broken into sealed tombs and stolen the artifacts. But it has been worth the wait. The style and detail is still evident in the modern day reproductions. These reproductions can be found in specialty shops and online. Since the discovery and exhibition of items found in pyramids, a new market has developed for reproductions. Because of the information that has been learned about ancient Egyptians, modern day people like to own a piece of their history. The craftsman of old passed down their skill through many generations of their family. But unlike ancient times when laborers had taken weeks or years to produce a single piece it can now be done in hours by modern machines. Mass produced replicas are sought after by a new era of appreciative customers. The legacy left behind by these skilled craftsmen is to tell the story of how they lived and who they were. It is possible to plot the history of people and events through the style of their jewelry. Gold was the basis for many ornamental items; this is evident in the amount of gold found in the mummies tombs. Often during times of war the precious metals once used to make jewelry were instead used to make weapons, this made articles from these eras even more valuable. So when searching for authentic ancient Egyptian jewelry, especially from the more exciting times of war, the seekers can only get a reproduction. Reproductions can be better than the originals since there are new processes to make them lighter and more user friendly. Can you imagine wearing a 10lb necklace made of gold and jewels? It can be very entertaining and fashionable to wear a reproduction to celebrate the rich history of other cultures. So put on your reproduction jewelry and imagine you are floating down the Nile on a barge.

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