In the mounting of diamonds, the most interesting development in recent years has been the introduction and general use of platinum. Accurate and complete information regarding the value, genuineness, and history of individual gems is due the customer, and will be gladly offered by the dependable jeweller. This at once suggests a relation of confidence and indicates the true role of the jeweller as a trustworthy adviser. He must therefore rely very largely upon the knowledge and integrity of the jeweller. The layman is hardly qualified to judge genuineness. Even if the imitation is difficult of detection, the pretense deprives the owner of the satisfaction which is derived from the knowledge that a jewel is genuine. The owner, moreover, recognizes that many jewels when worn at one time diminish each other's beauty, and that the appeal of each is increased when it is chosen and worn with careful consideration of its suitability for the occasion, and its appropriateness in color and design for the particular gown.Īlthough stones and materials are subordinated to design, nevertheless a charming design developed with inferior material has about it an air of false pretense. The purchaser of an ornament now seeks artistic excellence of design, fine handiwork in the mounting, and suitability of the jewel to the character of the wearer. The newer attitude, while not disregarding value, nevertheless emphasizes the artistic quality of the jewel as paramount. This view regarded the monetary or intrinsic value of the stones as most important. It is in his role as designer that the great jeweller is indeed an artist who carries on the traditions of a craft which has enlisted men with the finest sense of beauty-in the days of the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Greeks in the Sixteenth Century with its masterpieces by Dürer, Holbein, and Cellini and again in our own day, when the artistic attitude toward jewelry is once more in the ascendant.įor many years the so-called commercial attitude towards jewelry prevailed. The determination of the most harmonious combinations of form and color bring into play the artistic instinct and talent of the jeweller. The mounting of gems and the creation of handsome pieces of jewelry require expert knowledge. The beauty of a stone is truly revealed by an appropriate setting. Too much care and consideration cannot be bestowed on the selection of a jewel.Īs the charm of flowers is increased by artistic arrangement in vases of appropriate shape and color and material, so a precious stone should be set with due regard to design, material, and workmanship. A fine jewel is the gift par excellence, and moreover it endures to serve as a constant reminder of the giver. It has been well said that a gift should be as genuine as the sentiment it expresses. To-day, as in past ages, they are still the favorite tokens of love and esteem. The very word jewel, derived from the French "joie," means "joy" and "gladness," and jewels have played an important part not only in the pleasure but in the art and history of mankind. When more attractive materials were not obtainable, the common objects of the wayside-shells or pebbles, berries or feathers-were put to service but whenever jewels could be secured they surpassed in favor all other articles of ornamentation. No tribe of savages, however rude, has failed to show a liking for some kind of decoration. Since the dawn of history personal adornment has been an object of interest to all races of mankind. Perhaps we no longer delight, as Aladdin did, in marble basins filled to overflowing with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds we recognize now that great quantities of gems are not of artistic importance, but that it is the individual stone, carefully selected, and appropriately mounted, which we rightly prize. A precious stone, a gem, a jewel-to-day as in the earliest times the words suggest at once beauty and color, something rare and greatly to be desired.
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