Gems and Metals- the stuff of dreams and power

earliest known jewelry- meteoric iron beads

The thought of a world without jewelry is pretty unimaginable to me. There are no times in recorded history that there has not been some sort of adornment that men and/or women  have worn.

Cairo's Egyptian Museum. Gold inlay

Even before recorded history, or that which we know as recorded history, there were jewels and bobs, bangles and brooches that have been excavated. Even  before the pyramids were built, there was jewelry... The meteoric iron beads shown in the picture on the top right,  include beads made from Lapis Lazuli, Carnelian, Agate, and Gold. these beads were made with more modern techniques than what was available at the time, invoking the mystery of where they came from. Could they be from aliens?
When we see gold, it evokes thoughts of kings, queens, royalty in general. When we see shiny and sparkling gems, we conjure up thoughts of crowns, scepters, and rings encrusted with diamonds. There is a deep emotional connection between precious metals, precious gems, and royalty, religion, and rituals.

Cullinan Diamond - 530 carats

The Queen of England is a fine example of this thought. She continues the rituals of her forefathers,  carrying the scepter that has been handed down for generations, and brought out at such times as deemed necessary to the pomp and circumstance of a monarchy, such as her Coronation(1) or the opening of Parliament. The scepter dates from 1661, and carries the cross, signifying temporal power.The scepter is 92.2cm long. Precious stones include the 530 carat Cullinan I diamond. (2)


The queen also wears a crown that is not too old, only made in 1937 it is one of the newer pieces in the Royal  collection, but.. it carries gems that are far older. The original crown worn by Elizabeth 1 wife of King George V, Father of the reigning Elizabeth II,  had problems with stress on the metal due to the weight of the gems that encrusted the surface. The new crown has 2800 diamonds, the most famous of these diamonds is the Koh-i-nǔr(3) that was brought to England in 1850 from India, and had been set previously  in two other crowns. The diamond has roots much older than even that. but that is another story for another day...

the Koh-i-Nûr (or Mountain of Light).

the Koh-i-Nûr (or Mountain of Light).

The British Crown Jewels are housed in the Tower of London, one of the best guarded places in the world.(4)Which makes one ponder the monetary value of the hoard as it is in present condition. Intrinsic  value and emotional attachment makes the valuation difficult at best, but,  later on in the month I'll be listing prices for some famous jewels as priced when purchased with  modern monetary equivalent, and in modern estimated value.

I hope you will visit again, the journey is just beginning!

If you are interested in reading more, these are great pages:  Art History Spot and also at The Royal page. The royal webpage about the English monarchy has a page dedicated to the royal collection of jewels... very sparkly.

International Science Times- http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/5916/20130819/iron-meteor-ancient-egypt-outer-space-aliens-jewelry-history-egyptian.htm

1.    Coronation... https://www.royal.gov.uk/RoyalEventsandCeremonies/Coronation/Coronation.aspx

2.        https://www.royal.gov.uk/The%20Royal%20Collection%20and%20other%20collections/TheCrownJewels/Overview.aspx 
          Cullinan Diamond https://www.royal.gov.uk    /The%20Royal%20Collection%20and%20other%20collections/TheCrownJewels/Gallery.aspx


(3)       Koh-i-nǔr--http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/koh-i-noordiamond.html

(4)       http://www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon/stories/crownjewels
        http://staff.kings.edu/bapavlac/knightsandcastles/londontower.html