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According to the Wikipedia, “Jewellery
(jewelry
in American English) is any piece of fine material
used to adorn the human body. Jewellery has probably
been around since the dawn of man; indeed, recently
found 100,000 year-old Nassarius shells that
were made into beads are thought to be the oldest
known jewellery.” For most of us, however, when we
hear about rings of gold & silver, diamonds,
emeralds, sapphires, pearls, precious stones,
engagements, weddings, anniversaries, holidays,
etc., our imaginations sweep us away into worlds of
starry dreams & adventures. The dazzling beauty of jewels, gemstones & precious
metals thrill the emotions, evoking many passions of
love, virtue, jealousy, greed & delight.
“Personal adornment and the
use of bright, shiny items to attract a mate is as
old as time. Jewelry is our way of showing off,
spreading our ‘peacock feathers’ to make a hit
with the opposite sex.
Put on jewelry and you're putting on
protection……What we call jewelry is really the
evolution of personal adornment that has its roots
in power-bestowing charms and talismans.”
“The gift of jewelry speaks a thousand
words: it talks about the seriousness of a
relationship, the seriousness of one's intentions,
and the amount of thought and passion invested in a
gift selection.”
Diamonds, emeralds & rubies are the
hallmarks of devotion, in the language of love and
affection. Gifts
like necklaces, broaches, cameos, earrings,
bracelets, pendants, birthstones, rings, etc., all
convey significance of meaning, fondness, warmth,
love and desire.
Brilliant novelists,
story-tellers, and Hollywood have all fueled our
obsession of love, romance and jewelry. It, of
course, started with treasure hunting & fortune
seeking stories like, King Midus and the Golden
Touch, The Story of Aladdin, and Alibaba
and the Fourty Theives.
Silent film began the movie craze with, The
Gold Rush, starring Charlie Chaplan, but quickly
moved on to, The Thief of Bagdag, with
Conrad Veidt & Rex Ingram, and,
Treasure Island, with Jackie Cooper & Lionel
Barrymore. Then
comedies, like the original, Pink Panther,
with Peter Sellers & David Niven, a funny
skirmish over the burglary of renown jewels, and
Michael Douglas’ adventure over the notorious
heart shaped emerald in, Romancing the Stone.
Next, consider the intrigue of Roger Moore in
the James Bond thriller, Diamonds are Forever.
Finally, can anyone ever forget Gollum’s
golden “precious” in Tolkien’s Lord of the
Rings? Fantasy
may be entertaining, but for all the hype, how are
patrons influenced?
Research finds that the jewelry
industry, in the US, is a very big business indeed,
demanding as, “the world’s second largest gold
jewellery market by volume (around 350 tonnes) and
the largest by retail value (around $16 billion).”
Diamonds score another “$12.5 billion in
retail value.”
This doesn’t take into account the numerous
other gemstones, pearls or precious metals
available. These
statistics are quite staggering; I guess that’s
literally putting one’s money where one’s mouth
is. So,
with so much esteem placed on these earthly mineral
elements, should we ask ourselves, “Are our
devotions to carats misplaced?
Are our fancies base covetousness, or can we
ascribe a higher meaning and purpose?”
Let’s
consider another perspective, what say the great
thinkers of various ages on the topic of true
riches:
“Genius without education is
like silver in the mine.”
 Benjamin
Franklin
“The words that
enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.”
Hazrat Inayat Khan
“The price of wisdom is above
rubies.” Bible, Job xxviii.
18.
“Dive into the
sea of thought, and find there pearls beyond
price.” Moses Ibn Ezra, Shirat
Yisrael
“No pressure, no
diamonds.” Mary Case
Wardrobe adornment;
expressions of love & beauty; engagement,
wedding & holiday celebrations; unfortunately, a
source of vanity, greed & malice; jewelry evokes
the passions of men and women like no other.
When all is said and done, I believe we can
all agree with Elizabeth Taylor,
who was quoted, “I adore
wearing gems, but not because they are mine. You
can't possess radiance, you can only admire it.”
References:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Sex,-Chocolate-and-Jewelry&id=12821
http://ezinearticles.com/?Jewelry---Women-Simply-Just-Love-Them&id=361839
http://www.gold.org/value/markets/supply_demand/jewellery.html
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/
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