Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal

adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks.
Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western perspective, the term is
restricted to durable ornaments, excluding flowers for example. For many centuries metal such
as gold often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for jewellery, but other
materials such as glass, shells and other plant materials may be used.
Jewellery is one of the oldest types of archaeological artefact – with 100,000-year-old beads
[1]
made from Nassarius shells thought to be the oldest known jewellery. The basic forms of
jewellery vary between cultures but are often extremely long-lived; in European cultures the most
common forms of jewellery listed above have persisted since ancient times, while other forms
such as adornments for the nose or ankle, important in other cultures, are much less common.
Jewellery may be made from a wide range of materials. Gemstones and similar materials such
as amber and coral, precious metals, beads, and shells have been widely used, and enamel has
often been important. In most cultures jewellery can be understood as a status symbol, for its
material properties, its patterns, or for meaningful symbols. Jewellery has been made to adorn
nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings, and even genital jewellery. In modern
European culture the amount worn by adult males is relatively low compared with other cultures
and other periods in European culture.
The word jewellery itself is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicised from the Old
[2]
French "jouel", and beyond that, to the Latin word "jocale", meaning plaything. In British
English, Indian English, New Zealand English, Hiberno-English, Australian English, and South
[3]
African English it is spelled jewellery, while the spelling is jewelry in American English. Both are
used in Canadian English, though jewellery prevails by a two to one margin. In French and a few
other European languages the equivalent term, joaillerie, may also cover decorated metalwork in
precious metal such as objets d'art and church items, not just objects worn on the person.

Form and function[edit]

A gold, diamonds and sapphires red guilloché enamel "Boule de Genève", a type of pendant watch
used as an accessory for women. An example of an object which is functional, artistic/decorative,
marker of social status or a symbol of personal meaning.

Humans have used jewellery for a number of different reasons:

● functional, generally to fix clothing or hair in place.
● as a marker of social status and personal status, as with a wedding ring
● as a signifier of some form of affiliation, whether ethnic, religious or social
 [4]
● to provide talismanic protection (in the form of amulets)
● as an artistic display
● as a carrier or symbol of personal meaning – such as love, mourning, a personal
milestone or even luck
● considered it as a good investment
[5]
● superstition