Jewelry has traced the outline of civilization since ancient history. Fashion is not a new age concept and every period of history has developed its own styles and cultures. Jewelry design is a reflection of the times and today’s designs are a testimony to this fact. Since early man, it has served the same purpose; to highlight a given body part and provide a sense of uniqueness to the wearer. Accentuating the body’s natural beauty with various materials designed exquisitely is jewelry’s raison d’être. Historically jewelry has been prevalent all over the globe from Africa to Europe and Middle East, Native America and South America to the oriental Far East. Even aboriginal civilizations have fashioned forms of jewelry from myriad materials.

Defining materials to be used in jewelry making would be a mammoth task since any material can be used imaginatively to create works of ornamental delights. Various metals especially the noble metal gold has always dominated jewelery making owing to its various virtues. Other materials used include gemstones mined from the bowels of the earth such as emeralds, rubies, amethysts, sapphires, etc not to mention diamonds; that king among gems. Even pearls procured by diving deep down to the sea bed have been used extensively in jewelry especially in coastal regions. These materials add definition to the delicately designed adornments