From time immemorial, human beings have used jewellery to enhance their position or their beauty. The earliest jewellery we know of was made of wood, bone, shells of small marine animals and stones. Little by little, as new technology was developed in the Metal age, these elements began to be replaced by a wider variety of metals man had learned to use, until the production of food made it essential to produce tools, at which time man began to use more advanced materials. Later on, finer metals such as silver and gold were discovered and because these metals are easy to work with, owing to their plasticity, they started to be used to make jewellery.

In the ancient city of Ur, priests were already using simple gold jewellery. Later on, in Egypt, the land of the Pharaohs, jewellery went from being just a craft to being transformed into an art, and it is during that period that beautifully crafted ornaments of fine gold were produced by skilled craftsmen and jewellers thanks to the more advanced techniques that had been developed. Women used jewellery to enhance their beauty and both men and women wore it as a sign of royalty. As well, these ornaments were used to differentiate priests and their followers. Later on the Egyptians began to use different stones to enhance the beauty and value of the ornaments. They found an extremely rare kind of glass in the surrounding desert as well as other precious stones which they polished to add to the beauty of their exquisite jewellery.

According to the latest archaeological discoveries, gold, silver and copper were alloyed to make jewellery some time between 3000 and 2000 BC. By alloying these metals, silversmiths were able to produce stronger and more durable pieces of jewellery, because gold and silver alone are easily deformable and tend to lose their original shape.

Ever since then, jewellery has been used in all civilizations, times, regions and religions, to ornament and confer prestige on those who use it. In our time jewellery is used not only to add accent to wardrobes and to make style statements, but also to mark special occasions such as engagements and weddings, as a sign of love, appreciation and faithfulness. And today, one of the fastest growing jewellery trends is the introduction of body jewellery as a means of embellishing the body (tongue, toe, nose and belly rings, and other body piercing jewellery).

Jewellery is no longer limited to women, and in fact has been used by men as well during the ages to enhance their beauty or just to draw attention. We can retrace its use as far back as Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, pre-Columbian America and tribal Africa, where men used all kinds of styles of ornaments. Currently, all kinds of jewellery, rings, nose rings, eyebrow rings, and chains are designed exclusively for men as a way to add a touch of style, show their fashion-awareness or follow trends set by celebrities.

Things to keep in mind when choosing body jewellery

It is essential to make sure what kind of metal is going to be used in a body piercing. The things to keep in mind are whether your skin is allergic to this kind of metal or not, and to check that the piece of jewellery used in the piercing has been properly sterilised and that the piercing itself is done in sterile surroundings. Surgical steel and gold are the most recommended metals for piercing.

For more information and to view beautiful works of jewellery art, please see http://www.greatjewel.net