Fun Facts About Jewelry
Here at Bridgewaters, we live and breathe jewelry. It provides our livlihood and gives us joy when we help a customer to find their perfect piece or have an old favorite repaired. We love to hear the stories of where and from whom our customers found or received their jewelry. It got us thinking about fun facts about jewelry that we could share with our customers.
Here are our favorite facts about jewelry:
- Throughout the ages, people have created and worn jewelry. The oldest jewelry found are Nassarius shells found in a Moroccan cave, dating back 82,000 years. Snail beads have been found in the Blombos Cave in Africa, dating back 75,000 years.
- Did you know that live insect jewelry has been popular throughout history? Egyptians may have been the first, wearing scarab beetles into battle. Mexican Maquech Beetles and Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches have also been worn as jewelry.
- Organized production of jewelry started with the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Their work in advancement of metallurgy and collection of gems impacted jewelry development in every civilization that came after.
- Your gold roamed around the universe! Gold comes from meteorites, specifically believed to come from a meteor shower over 4.5 billion years ago.
- Platinum, which comes from Ore, a naturally occurring solid material, is very rare. Ten tons of Ore need to be mined to find one ounce of platinum.
What is your favorite jewelry fact? Share with us on Bridgewaters Facebook page! And check out some wonderful pieces repaired or created by owners Clay Bridgewater and Mary Bridgewater Lenoff showcased on our Facebook page.