Jewelry and the Treasure of Love and Tradition
Jewelry has been around for many centuries now. Yet, it continues to hold pride of place in our lives today.
Ever since the ancient times, people have been attracted to the beauty of jewelry. There are many reasons why people wear jewelry. It is not only that jewelry looks beautiful thanks to the shine and the glitters. That is only a part of the picture. The important thing is that jewelry is also representative of one's wealth and power. Jewelry can be worn as rings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and even as earrings. They can be a combination of different precious metals together with gems like rubies, jade, sapphires or diamonds. In a number of designs, artisans do not use precious gems, preferring to work on the body of the metal itself. Compared to older generations, who preferred gold, people nowadays have begun to go in for platinum jewelry combined with that most valuable and sought-after of gemstones -- the diamond.But not all jewelry is used for adornment. Over the years, people have also been known to store jewelry like treasures because of the immense value that has been attached to it. The value of paper money may have decreased over a period of time. But you will agree that such a decrease has not been experienced in the case of jewelry. Even in times of war when paper money loses its value, jewelry can be pawned off or traded in exchange for other essential items. In certain countries, some kinds of jewelry are often worn due to superstitious beliefs.Among the various kinds of jewelry available, the one that is most popular today is the diamond and platinum combination. You must have come across the old saying that "a diamond is a girl's best friend". This must be true in many ways, for it is now quite common to see couples nowadays make their wedding vows with gifts of diamond rings. In the world of today, more and more people are choosing diamond-platinum rings. This is because the metal and the stone complement each other very well. In fact, many view it as a perfect combination. Since the diamond is everlasting, the gift also symbolizes the couple's perpetual love for each other. Not only that, sometimes at upper class dinners, women adorn themselves with heavy diamond jewelry in the form of necklaces or earrings to complement their dinner gowns.At the same time, one cannot deny that the platinum-diamond combination is a costly affair. Sometimes, the prices can be as high as few thousand dollars. Some pieces even fetch millions depending on the quality of the jewelry or how many carats the diamond is. These rings are available in many different designs. One of the most popular of these is the heart-shaped diamond ring. Because of the high demand for these ornamental treasures and the high price tags attached with them, diamonds were actually obtained illegally in several African countries. The mining area was controlled by warlords who took over the diamonds. There was often a lot of fighting between factions leading to casualties. Hence , the term - "blood diamond". Even the most simple among us fall prey to the shine and sparkle of jewelry. It will never fall out of favor even though there may be changes in times and traditions. I do not suppose that I would be wrong if I conjectured that the appeal of beauty is one that will last forever in the minds of men.
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