Luxury jewelry has always been a way of displaying one's power, wealth and opulence. Those small pieces and objects can show the world how rich you are and whether you care about your money and whether is price a problem for you…
How do we define luxury jewelry? Jewelry is small pieces of decor, made out of various materials, in various forms and sizes, with multiple purposes. Their main purpose is to decorate a piece of your body, compliment your outfit or appearance. They are luxury personal adornments, quite like broaches, pendants, rings, bracelets and earrings. For many years, metal, combined with some precious materials has been the combination used to create luxury jewelry, but there were also some unordinary materials like sea shells, plastic, wood, or glass in fact. The oldest known jewelry is a type of an archeological artifact, 100.000 year old beads from Nassarius shells. The basic form of jewelry cannot be defined, since it varies depending on the culture and nation where it belongs. There are pieces of jewelry to be used to adorn every part of your body, from toes to hairclips.
The sole word jewelry is derived from the word jewel, meaning precious stone. Many kinds of precious stones are used when creating jewelry, from those which are plain, to those rare ones which are used when creating luxury jewelry. In most cultures, it represents a status symbol, depending on the material used; everyone can know your social status.
Jewelry also varies between genders, jewelry made for men is masculine and bold, and whist women jewels are more delicate, feminine and elegant. It can also determine to which religion, culture or ethnic group you belong to. Many cultures have their wealth kept in the form of jewelry, like for example the Arabian Sheikhs. They have most of their wealth in solid gold or family jewelry.
Materials used to create jewelry vary from those very simple, to those rare and luxury as we have previously said. When it comes to luxury jewelry, mostly used material is gold or gold alloy with various gemstones and precious stones décor. They are always perfectly distributed and adorn even the simplest pieces. Use of platinum and other valuable metals is fairly new in the world of jewelry but it has become popular these days. Jewelry quality is measured in karats, which state the purity of the used material.
Other commonly used materials are glass, fused glass or alloyed, so is ivory, wood, shells and other things. Every material available on the Earth can be transformed into luxury if you know what you're doing. Beads are also very common and modern. For example, beads were the most modern in the Victorian era, when they were incorporated into various products, to make them more beautiful. Beaded jewelry commonly encompasses rings, necklaces, bracelets and earring, and also clothing objects.
One of the most valuable material used in creating jewelry are diamonds. They were first mined in India, and nowadays they are used in almost every jewel you can find. Other popular precious stones used are amethyst, ruby, turquoise, emerald, jade and sapphire.
Jewelry has always had an impact on society, by showing the world your jewels you show them how wealthy you are. Even in ancient Rome, jewelry was used for those purposes. First signs of elaborate jewelry creating were discovered in Ancient Egypt, about 5000 years ago. Egyptians were people who preferred luxury, rarity, oddity and use of gold instead of other metals. They had jewelry made from other materials, which they had to import from other countries, but they made a great use of those they could find nearby. Egyptian Pharaohs had the possibility of wearing luxury jewelry during their lifetime, and even after that, since they took their jewelry and wealth with them to the grave, so they could have a wealthy life beyond death. Their jewelry, homes and tombs were signs of their opulence, since their homes and graves were often made out of gold or gold alloys. Precious stones were used in décor very often. Their jewelry designs had many similarities to Phoenicians. The color of their jewelry also had meaning, for example green was the sign of fertility. Women wore jewelry on celebrations and ceremonies like they do now.
Some of the most interesting luxury jewelry creating movements was art deco and art nouveau. In art nouveau jewelers began to explore many options. Jewelry from that era had various forms and shapes, many materials were used, while the emphasis was on the feminine form and structure. Mass production of jewelry began in art deco era. Decadent and rich luxury jewelry pieces were produces all around the world, exuding style and luxury. Royal era jewelry was also very special, and actually it is very special today, too. Kings and queens wore their jewelry in form of small decorative elements or crowns, made out from the most expensive materials, and then passed them on to their heirs. There were a few wars which have started over a jewelry feud.
We had the chance to see art deco jewelry in the movie Great Gatsby, created by Tiffany & Co. which is one of the world’s most famous luxury jewelry brands. Their jewelry is an object of desire of the most women in the world, with their perfect little blue boxes. Right next to them is Cartier, probably number one luxury jewelry maker, which enchants its customers with marvelous design, utmost luxury and beauty. Luxury jewelry made by these two brands is something every girl covets in their dreams. Every girl would be amazed to receive Tiffany engagement ring or wedding bound. Bridal jewelry is one of their specialties, and they do it with such ease, elegance and sophistication. There are various other brands which are dedicated to that particular jewelry line, but none of them is good enough to beat Tiffany.
One more luxury jewelry brand is Hermes. It is a France based producer of quality goods established in 1837. Today they specialize in leather, lifestyle accessories, luxury goods and luxury jewelry. Their newest collection, they have unveiled their first global digital campaign, called The Sound of Hermes Silver. They have collaborated with three renewed artists in order to create an immersive, modern and unexpected digital piece. They asked only one question, what if silver had a sound. For the first time ever, Hermes adventures itself in an emotive mash up of its historic silver craftsmanship with an artistic performance.
In the end, we would like to tell you about 10 most expensive and luxurious jewelry pieces in the world. Number 10 is the Cullian Diamond, sold for an amazing price of 9.96 million dollars in 2009. It is a truly amazing piece. Quite similar is number nine, sold for 10 million dollars; it is an amazing ring with a precious blue diamond as a centerpiece. With the price of 11.6 million dollars is the Pink Graff ring, and number seven is a piece of jewelry once owned by King Edward VII, and is now owned by Madonna. Number six is an amazing tiara, with emeralds and diamonds, with a price tag of 12.8 million dollars. We have some really amazing pieces on positions 5 to 1 so prepare to be amazed…
This ring is easily to be called the most expensive ring in the world, since it has two large diamonds as its centerpiece. It was a part of a Bulgari collection from 1972. The next one on our list is Harry Winston Sapphire, the most expensive jewelry piece worn to Academy Oscars Awards, and it is an exact replica of a piece of jewelry from Titanic. Number three was once a part of a royal family jewelry box. It was owned by Margaret Theresa, the daughter of King Philip IV, and it costs 24.3 million dollars. The first runner up on this luxury jewelry race is a piece which holds the record place for the most expensive jewelry piece ever sold on a Christie’s auction. It’s called the Doubly Fortunate, and it was sold for an amazing 9.3 million dollars.
Number one and the absolute ruler of this list is the most expensive piece of jewelry in the world, known as the Graff Pink, sold for an unbelievable price of 46 million dollars. It has perfect rating and the price of about 1.85 million per carat.
The most perfect jewel in the world is now owned by Harry Winston jewels. It is a remarkable flawless diamond, with the weight of about 101 carats, and it was sold for 27 million dollars.
