Jewellery

Jewellery, the name given to articles made of precious stones and metals for personal adornment, and to other jewelled specimens of gold- and silversmiths' work. There are many different kinds, from the beads of early times and of savages to richly-chased ornaments of precious stones cut and set in wrought gold. The earliest worked metal in use was gold, which was hammered into shape. Precious stones used in jewellery include diamonds and gems, such as rubies, sapphires, and cameos of various kinds, and also pearls, jet, and coral. Among the first to master the art of making jewellery were the Egyptians, and in the oldest monuments we find engraved examples enriched with enamel as well as stones, and with the different parts soldered together. The Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans have left us specimens of their work. Now most jewellery is made by machinery. The places where jewellery is chiefly made are London (Clerkenwell), Vienna, Paris, New York, Birmingham (where sham jewellery is made), and Whitby (where jet ornaments are made). In the East the precious stones used are generally uncut. "Prussian jewellery" is of delicate work, made of iron, originally made during the French occupation.