“The jeweler allows me to wear the sapphire blue lake on my finger, the emerald green leaves around my neck, and take the citrine sunset with me wherever I go. Jewelry has become my daytime link to nature in an office with no windows. And if I have to work late, there's nothing like diamond stars and a pearl full moon against an onyx night sky,” said Astrid Alauda. Women go crazy over every piece of jewelry that’s is available. Whether you are a history buff or simply seeing handmade beaded jewelry worn by your favorite actresses, it is hard to look at the jewelry from the past and not take a look at the handmade jewelry that was worn then. While a few of them look unbearably clunky and old fashioned now, some would look right at home on today's top fashion catwalks and expos. Jewelry, in all of its forms, has had a strong effect on the world and the fashions that were based off of it.
Early in history, jewelry was a mark of status of some sort. Perhaps the only people who could wear it were of religious importance, or perhaps they were the only people who could afford it. It’s a fact that though the handmade beaded jewelry from the early eras seems primitive to our eyes, it was still crafted with care. For instance, the twisted torques, close fitting necklaces that were worn by the Celts, was often a sign of both manhood and wealth.
Later on, jewelry was a mark of privilege and leisure; it was a show that not only could you afford to feed yourself and your loved ones, but that you could spend a lot of extra money on beautiful things. For instance, in many parts of Europe, there were sumptuary laws that forbid people of a certain class from wearing things that were too extravagant, whether that was cloth, jewelry or special leathers. Often though, people would ignore these rules and the fact that they had to pay a fine was also seen as a mark of status and wealth!
During the Victorian age in Europe, handmade beaded jewelry started taking the shapes that would be very familiar to those of us who wear jewelry today. The Victorian era had a very strong interest in death and funerary arts, though, and this was often eerily represented in so-called mourning jewelry, where people would snip hair from their departed loved ones and weave it into lockets, broaches and rings. Sometimes this jewelry would get very elaborate and it could be quite beautiful, especially when different shades of hair were used.The beginning of the twentieth century saw the beginning of costume jewelry. Costume jewelry, far from being as cheap or as disposable as the name implies, was actually meant to be jewelry that complemented one particular outfit. Various precious metals and gems could and often did go into the production of costume jewelry.
Given the fact that jewelry has played such a role in human history, it is no wonder that handmade beaded jewelry makes such an important appearance in our myth and legends as well!
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