Egyptian Silver

Filed under: Better Jewelry — admin at 10:39 am on Monday, January 18, 2010

Silver is a metallic chemical element, known from the earliest times. According to legends, Gold was considered to be the skin of the ancient Egyptian gods, but their bones were thought to be of silver. Ancient Egyptians were able to obtain gold and even electrum, but it is believed that silver was not known to them for a long time. Electrum is a gold-silver alloy which occurred naturally. It had silver contents somewhat higher than twenty percent and its color was pale amber. It was worked and used similarly to gold.

When silver was finally introduced into Egypt, it probably was more valuable than gold for it was rarer and more expensive. During the Old Kingdom, items of silver were listed above those of any other known metal. By the Middle Kingdom, silver may probably have been considered less valuable than gold. By this time, there was perhaps a much better supply of the metal. By the 18th dynasty silver and copper had been established as a mostly abstract means of exchange, with silver being worth half its weight in gold and 100 times its weight in copper. Starting the New Kingdom onwards, there was a readily available supply of silver. It was used in making beautiful jewelry and artifacts. Beaten into sheets, silver was also used to plate copper and other materials, especially mirror surfaces.

the tools smiths employed to shape and decorate these ornaments are few and surprisingly simplebasically a hammer and anvil, along with assorted pliers, mallets, scribers, and files; however, the techniques they used are varied and sophisticatedhammering and casting, fusing and soldering, embossing and repoussé, wire- and chain-making, filigree and granulation.

Combining these techniques, Middle Eastern jewelry makers developed an extensive repertoire of distinctive, recurring design elements.

Silver jewelry once had many functions for the women who wore it. In the face of hardship and insecurity, jewelry provided a woman a reserve of wealth and power. In a region that gave rise to three great faiths, religious symbols and inscriptions engraved on silver, pendants gave women comfort and solace. Amuletic jewelry warded off evil and protected a woman from misfortune.

Nowadays, some people consider silver as a kind of emperor of the antique world, serenely shining in confidence over such things as clocks, porcelain, pictures and even furniture.

A. Basel
http://www.bazaarway.com

How To Restore Old Jewelry

Filed under: Better Jewelry — admin at 11:28 am on Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Over the years you can acquire a lot of jewelry. Some of it you may not wear very often, while some of it might be appropriate for everyday where. So what do you do with the rest of it? Here are some ideas for you.

1. First, get all of it cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner at a jewelry store. This will help restore its luster and may revive an old piece you had fallen out of love with.

2. Next, separate the pieces you own into three piles: The pile you always wear, the pile you wear on special occasions, and the pile you never wear. For the last pile, don’t feel badly about putting jewelry in that pile. Just because you probably won’t wear it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have sentimental value for you. Very shortly you will find a way to enjoy it. But just hold on and let’s deal with the other piles first.

3. With the first pile, the pile you always wear, you can keep them in a place that is convenient for you on your dresser. If there are pieces that you rotate, and you’re concerned that they may go missing if your house were ever broken into, consider getting a hidden compartment safe built into your home. For example, get a safe that looks like a regular electrical outlet where you can keep your regular jewelry away from an intruder if they were to get in.

4. With the second pile, the pile you only wear on special occasions, identify if you wear them with a certain outfit. If you do, put them in a plastic bag and put the bag in the pocket of that outfit. That way, you don’t have to worry about it until it comes time to wear the outfit, then you can pull out the bag and put on the jewelry.

5. With the last pile, the pile you likely won’t wear, there are a few ideas you can use. First, you can find great joy in giving the jewelry to someone else, like your daughter or a special niece. Jewelry is beautiful and sentimental but is made even more special when passed from one person to another. For some of the other jewelry, take it to a frame store and see if they can put it into a shadow box. You’ll be amazed at some of the things they can do with frames and shadow boxes and will really make your special jewelry even more special, and available for everyone to enjoy!

Jeff Lakie is the founder of Jewelry Information a website providing information on Jewelry

Wristwatches - History

Filed under: Better Jewelry, Shopping Portal — admin at 2:33 am on Tuesday, June 9, 2009

From pocket watch to a fashion accessory. What was once, in the earliest years of portable watches, considered to be unsuitable for men and only for women, has grown today into a fashion utensil that everybody has. In the meantime, the wrist watch is no longer just a tool to tell the time. It is a designer piece and can indicate much more than the time.

A great deal of mechanics in a small housing

The first verifiable portable timepiece was developed in 1500. This was not a wristwatch, but more of a pocket watch. Through technical advancement, which made it possible for people to house mechanics in an more and more smaller space, the necessary pieces of the clockworks were able to be brought into a manageable form. In this way, the first pocket watch was born, which at the time was still the size of an egg.

The computerized wrist watch from Japan

A completely new wristwatch came onto the market in the 1970’s from Japan, which had built its own watch industry. The new watch from Japan was no more set on a mechanical basis, but on a computerized control. This wrist watch expanded its range of capacity rapidly. The wrist watch no longer just showed the time. The small timepiece on the wrist now also knew the date, the day of the week and even knew whether a leap year was involved.

The wristwatch as jewelry

Today, the wrist watch is no longer just a watch. The wrist watch has turn into a fashion accessory. Wristwatches come in all colors and forms conceivable. One can also buy compatible watches from all fashion collection. The current watches are dominated by the correct fashion trends. Despite these contrary trends, there is something for every taste. The small watches, which require spectacles to tell the time, and the extravagant large watches, which make it difficult to walk upright. In any case, one thing is clear: science is still likely to make so much progress - that the wrist watch will be found on the wrists of people for a long time, to respond to the question as to what time it is.