Lifestyles With Jewelry

Blue Topaz

2009-02-27T22:15:00.000-08:00

According to a well-known industry magazine, Colored Stone, blue topaz has become the 2nd most popular colored gemstone (sapphire is consistently number one).

This is not surprising. Topaz is a very hard material -- 8 on the Mohs hardness scale -- and blue topaz is a very pretty stone, available in a wide range of vivid hues with a striking vitreous luster. It is also a very affordable gem; we are usually able to sell it at prices under $6.00 a carat. If you compare that to the cost of aquamarine it makes blue topaz a tremendous value.

At the same time, blue topaz is a gem that is not well understood by many buyers, and some recent controversy in the USA has led some buyers to rethink their blue topaz purchases. But this is a case where a little knowledge will go a long way.

There are two important things to know about blue topaz. The first thing is that while topaz is very hard, it is not the most durable gemstone. That's because it has perfect cleavage, a property it shares with diamond. That means it can be chipped or split by a sharp blow, so it should be protected from hard knocks.

The second important thing is that topaz does not occur naturally in the deeply saturated blues you find in the market today. Blue topaz in nature is very rare indeed, and tends to a very pale blue. The vivid blues available in the market have all been produced by treating white topaz -- first with irradiation, then with heat. The color change is permanent and stable, but recently there has been some controversy about the safety of this treatment for the consumer.

There are 2 different irradiation methods used to produce blue topaz. One method, used to produce the lighter blue known as Sky Blue, uses gamma rays from Cobalt 60 sources or (more commonly) electrons produced by a linear accelerator, followed by heat treatment. The darker blue tones, known by the names Swiss Blue and London Blue, are achieved by bombardment from electrons produced in a nuclear reactor, followed by heat treatment.

Because of residual radioactivity, the irradiated topaz must be held in a secure facility for a period of time before it can be released for heating, cutting and polishing. The time varies from a few weeks for topaz irradiated in a linear accelerator to a few months for topaz irradiated in a nuclear reactor. There are very strict rules in place to protect not only consumers but also the cutters and gem dealers who handle these gems on a daily basis.

In July of 2007 the American Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reminded the gemstone and jewelry industry that current regulations require the initial importer of nuclear irradiated gems to be licensed by the NRC. Because there are currently no companies licensed by the NRC to import irradiated gems, several large jewelry chains in the US decided to remove blue topaz from their shelves since they could not assure the public that these gemstones were completely safe.

In August 2007 the NRC themselves tested 9 batches of irradiated blue topaz averaging 500 carats each and found that the topaz posed no health risk. They issued a Fact Sheet on Irradiated Gemstones to assure the public that these gemstones were quite safe. The NRC is now working with the industry to put a testing system in place that will include topaz treated in linear accelerators as well as those treated in nuclear reactors. Anything that can be done to assure the market that this very popular gemstone is safe is worth doing. But recent events have shown that there is not much ground for concern.

Black Tourmaline

2009-02-27T22:11:00.000-08:00

Black gemstones can make stunning jewelry, but there are actually very few gemstones that occur in black. The most common is onyx, a variety of chalcedony or cryptocrystalline quartz, which is dyed to produce a uniform black. Onyx is abundant and inexpensive, but it is not what one would call a fine gem.

Back in the Victorian era, a black mineral called jet was very popular, particularly for mourning jewelry. Jet is an organic mineral composed of fossilized wood, somewhat similar to coal. It is very light in weight, so suitable for large pieces of jewelry. But it is also extremely soft compared to other gemstones, with a hardness of only 2.5 to 4.0 on the Mohs scale. Jet is now unfashionable, possibly because of its association with mourning. The fact that it can be burned like coal probably didn't help either.

Some finer gems are occasionally found in black, such as diamond, sapphire and spinel. But the most available high quality black gemstone is tourmaline. Also known by the name schorl, black tourmaline is the most common form of this uncommon mineral. Perhaps 95% of the tourmaline found in nature is black, and this is why black tourmaline is relatively inexpensive, selling at prices well below amethyst or citrine.

Like all tourmaline, black tourmaline is quite hard (7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale). It has a vitreous, slightly resinous, luster and takes a good polish. Since tourmaline has poor cleavage, it is a very durable gemstone as well.

Black tourmaline is very inexpensive compared to other tourmaline colors and can often be found in much larger sizes. We have cut some black tourmaline over 70 carats. You will find it sold in spheres and cabochons as well as in faceted form, but the faceted pieces display the best brilliance for jewelry.

The lore surrnounding black tourmaline is that it repels negativity and protects the wearer. It is said to be a very good stone to wear when you're experiencing any kind of stress. Placing black tourmaline under your pillow is thought to protect you from nightmares. Placing a black tourmaline at the entrance to your house will protect you from jealous neighbors. Emotionally, black tourmaline is excellent for dispelling fears, obsessions, and neuroses, and bringing emotional stability. Physically, black tourmaline is alleged to strengthen the immune system and help with heart disease, arthritis, and gout.

Apatite Gemstones

2009-02-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

Many gemstone lovers are fascinated by the ancient lore associated with gemstones, especially in relation to the human body. But whatever you might think about the alleged healing powers of gems, there is one gemstone mineral which is actually produced and used by the human body. That mineral is apatite.

While apatite is a common mineral, gem-quality apatite is quite rare. Apatite is known by gemstone connoisseurs especially for two colors: the paraiba-like blue green, and the leek-green color which once earned apatite the name 'asparagus stone.' There is also a very rare deep purple apatite, found in the aptly named Mount Apatite in Maine, USA.

But from the point of view of mineralogy, apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, including hydroxylapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite. These vary according to the concentration of hydroxide, fluorine or chlorine ions in the crystal. Hydroxylapatite is the major component of tooth enamel and makes up 70% of our bones.

Apatite-rich rock is also the most important source of phosphorus in the world. Phosphorus is an essential chemical in phosphate fertilizers. Phosphorus is also widely used in explosives, fireworks, pesticides, toothpaste and detergents.

While tooth enamel is the hardest material in the human body, apatite is not especially hard compared to other gemstones, with a rating of only 5 on the Mohs scale. So apatite jewelry is usually confined to earrngs and pendants or occasional wear rings with protective settings. Apatite is also sensitive to heat and acids, so should not be worn when working with chemicals.

When crytals of rutile grow in apatite, the stones may display the chatoyancy or the cat's eye effect when the gem is cut as a cabochon.

Gem-quality apatite is found in a number of places in the world, including Burma, Brazil and Mexico. The neon blue-green material is found chiefly in Madagascar. When evaluating an apatite gem, color saturation is very important, since the more intense the color, the most valuable the gem. Stones over one carat are rare and will command higher prices in the market. It is unusual to find clean apatite; most pieces have at least some inclusions.

The Agra Diamond

2009-02-27T21:44:00.000-08:00

The city of Agra was founded by the Mogul Emperors who made it their capitol for more than a hundred years in the 1500's and 1600's until Aurangzeb, the 6th mogul emperor transferred the seat of the monarchy to Delhi in 1658. It was in Agra that Akbar received a letter from Queen Elizabeth I of England and Jahangir issued a charter to the British East India Company in 1612, granting it freedom to trade in India.

The story of the Agra Diamond begins in 1526 when Babur the first Mogul emperor (1483-1530) took possession of Agra after defeating the Rajah of Gwailor in battle. Babur was the son of Omar Sheik, King of Ferghana (now Turkestan), his real name was Zahir al-Din Muhammed, but he was given the name Babur, meaning 'the tiger.' He was both a brilliant soldier and scholar, determined to become absolute ruler in India. After his success on the battlefield, Babur sent his son and successor, Humayun, to occupy Agra, a feat he duly accomplished in the process capturing members of the family of the slain Raja. Their lives were spared. It is said that as an expression of their gratitude they presented their captors with jewels and precious stones. Since it is recorded that Babur wore the Agra Diamond in his turban, the stone was probably one of those jewels. It is likely that the Agra remained in the ownership of following Mogul emperors because Akbar (1556-1605), the 3rd emperor, was said to have worn the diamond in his headdress and Aurangzeb (1658-1707) had the stone safely lodged in his treasury. Later the Agra may have been among the loot captured by the Persian, Nadir Shah, when he sacked Delhi in 1739. If that were so, then it must have been among the jewels recaptured when Nadir Shah encountered difficulties during the homeward journey because the diamond returned to India.

The story of how the pink diamond though to have been the Agra, left India was sold to Edwin Streeter, the famous London jeweller and author, by the fifth Marquess of Donegall in 1896. Lord Donegall stated that in 1857, the year of the Indian Mutiny, while he was serving in India, the diamond was taken from the ruler of Delhi. At the time he was secretary, and belonged to the same regiment as the young officer who had gained possession of the stone.

The officers decided to smuggle the diamond home to England rather than give it up, and share the proceeds, but the question arose as to how to get it there. Nobody seemed to be able to suggest a way that would prove successful until the evening before the departure of the regiment. During the course of the dinner the youngest subaltern suddenly jumped to his feet and said "I have it. We will conceal the diamond in a horse ball and make the horse swallow it." The plan met with general approval. A ball was secured, the inside scooped out, the diamond inserted and the end stopped up. Finally the animal was made to swallow it. When the regiment reached the port of embarkment, the horse was taken ill and had to be shot. The diamond was then removed from its stomach and taken to England.

There seems to be no reason to dispute the truth of these events, what would be the purpose of creating them? However there is reason to cast doubt upon the date it is said the events took place. It is known that by 1844 the Agra was already in the possession of Charles, Duke of Brunswick, one of the great jewel collectors of the 1800's, the man for whom the Brunswick Blue Diamond is named. The Duke of Brunswick paid 348,600 French francs (equal to about £13,670), a high price, for the Agra Diamond on November 22nd, 1844, to Blogg, a name which appears in the 1860 catalogue of the Duke's jewel collection. The person was most definitely George Blogg, a partner in Blogg & Martin, a well-known firm of diamond merchants in London at that time. In addition the Duke bought three other diamonds from Blogg that same day and had previously bought four more from the same source on November 8th. A note in the catalogue specifically drew specifically mentioned the diamond having been taken by Babur in Agra in 1526 and to its rank as being equal to 14th in importance among the world's great diamonds.

In the normal course of events it would be odd to expect a serving officer to possess a detailed knowledge of precious stones, but on the other hand accuracy would certainly be expected of the person compiling a catalogue of a gem collection in the calibre of the Duke of Brunswick's. One can only conclude, therefore, that the diamond eating by the horse and subsequently smuggled to England was not the same stone owned by the Duke of Brunswick, unless Lord Donegall's memory had failed him and the account he had retold to Streeter referred to happenings prior to 1844. Possible proof of the existence of two separate diamonds is supplied by other writers who have stated that the smuggled stone weighed 46 carats rather than 41 carats.

Sometime later the Agra was recut down to 31.41 carats (32.24 metric carats). This was done to eliminate some black inclusions. The truth is even harder to come by as a result of a statement by an American visitor to Paris, the scene of the recutting in 1899. He believed the stone was the same one that he had owned for some time and which had formerly weighed 71 carats. Had the horse been forced to swallow an even larger stone?

What's known for sure is that in 1891 Edwin Streeter purchased the Agra from Bram Hertz, one of the foremost diamond dealers in Paris and the man responsible for recutting the diamond. In trade for the necklace, Streeter gave Hertz a pearl necklace worth £14,000 and £1000 in cash.

While the Agra was in Streeter's possession, February of 1895, it was featured in a lawsuit that captured public attention. One London newspaper called it the "Extraordinary Jewelry Case." Certainly some of the allegations about the plaintiff, a young man named Joseph Charles Tasker, suggested that he was a true person of the prevailing fin de siecle decadence. Indeed the ties between fact and fiction were further cemented because counsel for the defendants, Messrs Streeter & Co., was none other than Sir Edward Clarke who, less than two months later, was to appear for Oscar Wilde at his famous trial. By the time he came to retire from the Bar, Sir Edward must have acquired a considerable degree of knowledge of historical diamonds because he also appeared for the owner of the Hope Diamond in further litigation in July, 1899.

In opening the case to the jury, Tasker's counsel, Mr. Finlay, said that the action had been brought for the purpose of having certain alleged purchases made by his client declared invalid and set aside. Tasker was a 25-year-old gentleman who, a few years earlier, had inherited a fortune of £700,000 from a relative. In today's inflated currency, this would easily equate to $4 or $5 million. On May 21st, 1894, Tasker, in company with his former tutor, Baron von Orsbach, went to Messrs Streeter's shop for the purpose of seeing a model of the Holy City set in jewels. While there he was introduced to a Mr. Rogers who in later transactions, the jury would find acted as a canvasser for Streeter's. For the next three weeks Rogers seemed to have devoted himself to Tasker, lunching with him, dining with him, and being constantly in his company. At that time the plaintiff was in bad health due to his intemperate habits, and very often had to pass much of his time in bed.

Mr. Finlay said that whenever Rogers saw Tasker he showed Tasker expensive gems which it was alleged by the defendants, the plaintiff bought. Within three weeks £100,500 worth of gems were alleged to have been purchased. Furthermore Rogers showed Tasker the Agra Diamond, Tasker allegedly bought it for £15,000. Rogers also showed him a model of the Hope Diamond, saying that Streeter's would get it out of the Court of Chancery, where it was, and sell it to him for £32,000. The plaintiff agreed to buy it at this price but ultimately the transaction came to nothing. Counsel then produced two "experts" in court to give their opinions concerning the value of the Agra. A Mr. Jones who said he was a dealer in precious stones valued it at £8000 while a Mr. Spink valued it at £10,000. After the judge had overruled his submission that there was no case to go before the jury, Sir Edward Clarke addressed the jury.

Sir Edward said that when they considered the way in which this had been launched and the way in which it had been conducted he did not doubt that they would think that no more unfair way of getting a bargain could be devised then that adopted by the plaintiff of traducing the tradesman with whom the bargain was entered into. This was a most serious attack on Streeter and his employees. The case they had come to meet was that they had made a false representation and by it the plaintiff was induced into these contracts. An attempt had been made to shrink the charge of misrepresentation, and to say now that the plaintiff was not capable of entering into any business transactions owing to his drunken habits. He was, however, surrounded by people who would have protected him if he was being attacked in an unfit condition. Could Baron von Orsbach taken a man, incapable due to drunkenness to Messrs Streeter's on the occasion of the exhibition of the Holy City?

Turning to the Agra Diamond, Clarke said that its purchase was not done in a single day. The bills in payment for it were brought ready-drawn because the bargain had been made the day before. It true that Mr. Streeter, instead of giving actual money, had given jewelry (the pearl necklace) worth £14,000 for the diamond, but by doing this he said that Mr. Streeter was quite justified in saying that the diamond had cost him £14,000. That was not misrepresentation. The plaintiff had made this bargain and now wished to get out of it. It was arranged that he should pay the bills. When Mr. Rowe and Mr. Rogers, two employees of Streeter & Co. went to the hotel there was no undue haste or secrecy. The plaintiff's cousin looked at the bills before they were signed.

He submitted that there was no ground for saying that the defendants had taken advantage of the plaintiff or made any misrepresentations. Sir Edward then drew the jury's attention to the difference in the value of the jewels in dispute given by the two experts called on behalf of the defendant and said that he would call others. Later during the proceedings they turned to be a Mr. Dodd, a diamond merchant who stated that he had thirty or forty years' experience in the trade. He considered that a stone the size of the Agra was unique because of its rose-pink color and that £15,000 was a fair price for a collector to pay. He was followed by a Mr. James Amos Foster of Holborn Viaduct, a wholesale diamond merchant with 25 years experience. In his opinion the Agra was a pink-white stone of very unusual size; he had seen it seven years prior in Paris when the price of the stone was £20,000. It was a stone that would be saleable for the occasion of a coronation or royal wedding. It would fetch anything from £14,000 from £20,000.

On the third day of the court action Edwin Streeter gave evidence. After telling the story of his purchase of the Agra from Hertz, Streeter said he had had plenty of experience of gems and that his book on diamonds ("Great Diamonds of the World") was well known. When he wrote it there were not more than seventy diamonds above 30 carats in the world. The rose-pink, the green or blue diamonds were rare. The Agra was bought cheap at £15,000. When cross-examined about his so-called pedigree he said it had been written for him by a Colonel Birch, and Indian scholar, after the colonel had been to the Indian office and obtained the information. The pedigree spoke of the stone having been seen in the treasury of Aurungzeb in 1665 and previously it had been purchased by the Emperor Babur, the famous descendant of Timur of Western Tartary, and founder of the Mogul Empire. It was also stated that Akbar had worn it in his headdress and that Nadir Shah had owned it. Under further cross-examination Street said he knew nothing about the statements contained in the pedigree: he did not know that Babur died in 1530 and that Aurungzeb was not born until 1618 (inexplicable admissions by Streeter because he had narrated precisely the facts about the two rulers in his book "Great Diamonds of the World", published in 1882.) Some comic relief was then supplied by the following exchange in court:

Sir Edward Clarke: "Is there only one Babur?"
Mr. Finlay: "Only one Babur, founder of the Mogul Empire, and only one Mr. Streeter."
Streeter then said that he did not know who Aurungzeb was.
Mr. Finlay: "Was he a Frenchman?"
Mr. Streeter: "An Indian Prince I should imagine from his name, but as I did not live in 1665 I cannot tell you."
(Laughter)
Mr. Finlay: "Did Hertz marry into the family of Nadir Shah?"
Mr. Streeter: "I do not know anything about Nadir Shah."
Mr. Finlay: "Is Mr. Hertz a very old man? Because Nadir Shah died in 1747."
Mr. Streeter: "He is about as old as myself."

Under further cross-examination, Streeter said Hertz had told him the Agra had arrived in Europe and that he had it re-cut. He might, if published in a fresh edition, introduce a description of it in his book on famous diamonds. He had never heard of the diamond until he bought it. He believed the stone was the only one of its kind in the world. He knew of no other Indian diamond of that color.

On the fifth day, the judge had summed up, the jury retired; four hours of deliberation resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff concerning certain items of jewelry and for the defendant concerning others. However, with regard to the Agra Diamond they found for Tasker, the plaintiff.

The year after this lawsuit, Lord Donegall related to Streeter the story of how a pink diamond allegedly the Agra, had left India. Perhaps he had read the court proceedings and wished to set the record straight, and in the process contradicting the researches of the Indian scholar, Colonel Birch, and the India office, too.

The Agra remained in Streeter's stock until he retired from the business in 1904 when his successors, the Parisian firm of jewelers, La Cloche Freres, who had acquired the premises and stock through the United Investment Corporation, dispersing the contents. Many of the lower priced items were bought by Debenham & Freebody. The remainder, comprising the more valuable items, were put up for sale by Christie's of London. The sale took place on February 22nd, 1905. The Agra, as the highlight of the sale, was the final lot. It was described as a "magnificent rose pink diamond of the highest quality, weight 31 and 13/32 carats." Although no name was attached to the diamond, it was obvious it was the Agra Diamond. The Times reported that the sale attracted a large crowd of people including a number of Indian collectors. The bidding opened at 1000 guineas and at 5100 guineas was knocked down to Mr. Maz Meyer of Hatton Garden, with Mr. S. Harris as the underbidder.

Four years later, on June 24th, 1909, jewels belonging to the dealer Salomon Habib came up for auction in Paris. They comprised of eight items: the fifth was the Idol's Eye and the eighth was the Hope. The sixth was a cushion-shaped rose-colored diamond weighing 31.50 carats; it had a reserve price of 300,000 francs put on it but reached only 82,000 francs. No name was attached to the stone but it is hard to believe that it could have been any other diamond than the Agra.

Shortly afterwards the gem was acquired by Mr. Louis Winans. He had inherited a fortune from his father, William Walter Winans, an American railroad engineer from Baltimore who built Russia's first commercial railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

It was in 1843 that Czar Nicholas I (1825-1855) invited George W. Whistler, half-brother of the artist James McNeill Whislter ("Whistler's Mother"), to be the consulting engineer on the proposed railway linking these two cities. Whistler in turn asked Ross Winans, a leading engineer and inventor to take charge of the mechanical department. Winans, however, declined the invitation and sent his sons William and Thomas instead. The Winans brothers' contract was to equip the new Russian railway with locomotives and stock cars and in so doing they established workshops in Alexandrovsky, near St. Petersburg. When the railway was completed in 1851, Thomas Winans returned to Baltimore with his Russian wife while William Winans stayed on until 1862 to finish existing contracts. In 1868 the Russian government took over the family's interest in return a large bonus.

Louis Winans eventually settled in Brighton, England, where he commissioned a local firm of jewelers, Lewis & Sons to help form his remarkable collection of colored diamonds. The Winans collection included some spectacular stones - besides the Agra Diamond, which was the highlight, the Golden Drop weighing 18.49 carats was part of the collection. It is one of the most intense and pure yellow diamonds of its size ever known.

The Agra and two other diamonds from this collection were put up for sale at Christie's in London on June 20th, 1990, by the vendor who had inherited them in 1927. During World War II, she had commissioned her local blacksmith to make an iron box and into it she placed the Agra Diamond along with all her jewels and colored diamonds inherited from Louis Winans. This casket was buried in her garden and was still safely in place at the end of the war.

The Agra was graded by the Gemological Institute of America as a naturally colored Fancy Light Pink, VS2 clarity diamond. It measured 21.10 by 19.94 by 11.59 mm and weighed 32.34 carats. It was expected to fetch £1,500,000 but after fierce bidding it sold for £4,070,000 (about $6.9 million). The winning bid was made by telephone and came from the SIBA Corporation of Hong Kong, the same company that owns the Allnatt Diamond. The total value of the gems and jewelry sold at this record auction was £12,900,000. Since that appearance the Agra has been recut to a modified cushion shape (and judging by photos, most likely a stellar brilliant cut) weighing 28.15 carats. Its color grade is said to have been boosted from Fancy Light Pink to Fancy Pink that last recutting. Sources: Famous Diamonds by Ian Balfour, Diamonds - Famous, Notable and Unique by GIA, and the Gemstone Forecaster.

Jewelry Provides Clues to Lifestyles

2009-02-27T21:37:00.000-08:00

The Indonesian cultural treasury is vast, with almost all aspects of human life being manifested,
practiced, marketed in a diversity of ways by the country's hundreds of ethnic groups. One of these manifestations is personal adornment in the form of jewelry.

Jewelry is the product of human culture, the result of an idea, feeling, skill, perseverance and creativity. It is not static, but progresses with the progression of time and therefore provides clues to the lifestyle of a given time in history.

The art of making jewelry is known throughout the archipelago, practiced by each ethnic group in its own particular way. Thus, local nuances deriving from ethnic traditions, the outlook on life, symbolic values and the foreign influences that have reached the area have given immense diversity to the world of Indonesian jewelry, and yet amongst all this diversity we can catch glimmers of similarity. In all aspects of Indonesian life, the national motto of "Bhineka Tunggal Ika", or Unity in Diversity, is very much a reality.

History
People throughout the world have always worn some form of jewelry, for religious purposes and traditional ceremonies, as amulets, status symbols and beauty enhancers. Since prehistoric times, Southeast Asians, including the Indonesians, have been acquainted with jewelry and jewelry-making techniques.

During the hunting and food-gathering (Mesolithic) age, Indonesians began to live more settled lives. They made their homes in caves and produced tools for practical purposes as well as objects required for the burial of their dead. They also had the technology to make necklaces of shells and animals' bones, which they perforated with simple drills so that they could be strung together.

Jewelry-making skills had improved by the time of the agricultural age, or neolithicum. New immigrants arrived from the mainland, bringing new ideas and technologies which allowed the production of finger-rings, necklaces and bracelets from clay, semi-precious stones, iron and gold. Design continued to be simple, with some geometrical figurations.

With the metal age came the skill of mixing metals. Copper was combined with tin to produce bronze which was turned to many useful purposes, including the making of jewelry. Symbolic context was given to jewelry, which was derived from the special properties of the metal itself. This was expressed in the shape of the ornament as well as in the ornamentation thereon.

Hinduism began to touch Indonesia some 2,000 years ago, bringing with it not only a new religion but also new cultural concepts. We have visual evidence of the impact this had on the islanders in the form of temples and statuary. The bodies of many statues display a variety of ornate jewelry. One of these is the tali kasta, a rope worn to betoken caste and also used as a charm with curative powers. Other items adorning the personages of royalty and the gods include crowns, necklaces, finger-and toe-arm circlets, some of which can still be seen in Javanese dance costume today.

Islamization did not significantly change the usage of jewelry, but did add new elements of ornamentation. Europeans also brought an increased awareness of class difference that intensified the need to exhibit status and power, and introduced the concept of jewelry as a token of love with new styles and motifs. Lions, birds and floral motifs were particularly appreciated by the Europeans; they showed a preference for matched sets of jewelry as well.

Traditional jewelry today remains an integral part of traditional wedding attire. It is also used with other forms of ethnic dress, but is not considered as essential and may be combined with or replaced by non-ethnic forms of jewelry.

Types of Traditional Jewelry

Head ornaments:
These consist of ear and nose ornaments, hairpins and combs, crowns and diadems. They may be made from wood, bamboo, beads, metal, precious stones, shells and bone, among other materials. They function as beautifiers and status indicators; some are indicative of royalty and power.

Body ornaments:
Body ornaments decorate the neck, chest, waist, upper arms, wrist, fingers, legs and toes; a good example is the kelat bahu, which encircles the upper arm. This is still very popular among many of Indonesia's ethnic groups and can be seen, for example, in dance and wedding costumes worn by both men and women.

Jewelry is, and has always been, used for a variety of functions. It is an essential part of ceremonial dress, and particularly the wedding costume. It can accompany the deceased into the grave, allowing him or her to maintain status in the after world, and to have all the things enjoyed in real life; most pre-historic beads are discovered in graves. Jewelry is an elegant feature of a dancer's costume and also accentuates movement. And finally, jewelry can function as symbols of power and status, protect the wearer from spiritual harm, and on occasion provide clues as to the personal level of development of the wearer.