Interesting facts about jewelry

gems

the treasures of our earth

gold

The foundation of our industry

The history of jewelry

Jewelry was used as early as 80,000 years ago . Formerly often made of teeth, leather and shells, it served as a symbol of war, power or origin.

With the development of our civilization, many population groups, many different cultures met; the need for jewelry grew greatly, since at that time it had the function of demonstrating one's status to strangers.

As humanity embraced metalworking , jewelry making changed radically.

With the use of classic precious metals and the later decoration with precious stones , we are very quickly approaching today's jewelry image .

Less religious, less symbolic, jewelry was increasingly valued for its decorative character .

Antiquity , which extends into the early 18th century, represents the beginning of the well-known jewelery epochs.

Many more follow this epoch up to the modern one. Each of these jewelry epochs tells its own story.

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Gold

Gold is characterized by its unique yellow luster and high value retention . With the addition of certain metals such as copper, silver, platinum or palladium, the yellow color can be transformed into red or white gold while preserving the natural shine.

Gold jewelry was made as early as 5000 BC . It used to be an indispensable building block in the expression of power, wealth and culture .

Gradually, gold became more and more important as a stable currency and has not lost its solvency and store of value to this day.

Today, gold is one of the most important currency hedges in many countries and is the most important precious metal in the jewelry world.

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Silver

Already more than 7000 years ago people used the precious metal silver.

After commercial silver mining began and new processing techniques were discovered to mine silver , the supply of silver increased rapidly .

In the 16th century various shapes could be made from silver , such as silver cutlery, boxes and jugs. These pieces of silver found their way mainly among noble families . Later, when production gradually increased, even commoners could afford pieces of silver.

Today, silver is mostly used in industry rather than jewelry, which accounts for 70% of annual production.

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diamond

There is probably no gemstone that triggers such great popularity and fascination as the diamond.

The diamond is the most important gemstone in the jewelery industry and will continue to be one of the most sought -after products in the jewelery world in the future.

Its outstanding brilliance , hardness and dispersion trumped those of other gemstones.

Due to the high desirability and economic importance, a lot of energy was expended to bring the diamond into perfect condition . This is how today's brilliant cut was created after many previous cuts (rose, old, octagonal and transition cut).

The brilliant cut was created through the collaboration of talented cutters, mineralogists, mathematicians and gemologists. The brilliant cut was invented in 1910 and was optimized in the following decades in terms of proportions, position and angle of the facets. It was not until 1938 that the ideal brilliant cut according to Eppler , which is used as a graduation value in Germany, was created.

The brilliant cut puts the diamond in its best possible shape ; its luster , total reflection and number of reflections complement each other perfectly and perfect the brilliance . This is how the " brilliant " came into being, which has been the most sought-after cut ever since.

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tanzanite

Tanzanite is a variety of zoisite and was first found in northern Tanzania in 1967 and became famous through the jeweler "Tiffany", who named the gemstone after the country where it was found , Tanzania .

Tanzanite is only found in Tanzania, making it 1000 times rarer than diamonds . According to experts, the global supply could be exhausted in the next 20 years .

The tanzanite is a unique bluish-purple color and exhibits strong pleochroism (exhibiting different colors in different directions).

It gets its special color mainly from vanadium and partly from aluminum .

Tanzanite is one of the best- selling gemstones of all time.

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tourmaline

The name tourmaline was first used in Europe around 1700 . However, gemstones of this mineral type were found as early as the 9th century .

Tourmalines are characterized by their popular color varieties, there are tourmalines in almost all colors .

The color zoning is fascinating; a single stone can show different colors at once.

The intense and vibrant colors are the reason for the high popularity of this gemstone.

The tourmaline has special physical characteristics, it exhibits piezo and pyroelectricity, which is why it is of great importance for the electronics industry.

In 1987, an intense turquoise-blue tourmaline was found in Brazil, the Praiba tourmaline, which as a result of its unique color rose to become one of the most expensive gemstones in the world and has fetched top prices to this day.

Rubellites (red), indigolites (blue) and verdelites (green) are also particularly beautiful tourmalines.

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beryl

The beryl is one of the oldest and most popular precious stones in the world, so the first emeralds were mined as early as the 13th century BC .

The history of the beryl goes back to the origins of our time and has adorned body and soul for many centuries.

The best -known variety of beryl is the emerald , known for its rich green color, it is the most important and most expensive beryl. In addition to the emerald, the aquamarine (blue) and morganite (pink) are very popular.

The beryl is one of the most important types of gemstones in the jewelery industry, so old kings and empresses adorned themselves with this valuable jewel.

Today, the deposits of this mineral are largely exhausted , which is why the prices for good qualities, especially for emeralds and aquamarines, are increasing year after year.