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Jewellery is sometimes seen as wealth storage
Jewellery has been made to adorn nearly every body part, from hairpins to toe rings and many more types of jewellery. Jewellery is sometimes seen as wealth storage or functionally as holding a garment or hair together. While high-quality ornaments are made with gemstones and precious metals. Such as silver or gold, there is also a growing demand for art jewellery where design and creativity is prized above material value.It has from very early times also been regarded as a form of personal adornment. In addition, there is the less costly costume jewellery, made from lower value materials and mass-produced. In some cases people were buried with their jewellery. Other variations include wire sculpture (wrap) jewellery, using anything from base metal wire with rock tumbled stone to precious metals and precious gemstones.
Gemstones are so durable
A few are mineraloids not true minerals and are including here: opal, amber, and moldavite. Foremost is durability - it must not easily corrode away, nor can it be brittle. It is so durable that nearly all of the gold ever mined is still in circulation or storage. In some cases, the names are true misnomers, such as Green Amethyst for prasiolite-a transparent green variety of quartz.In most cases, these variety names are historical, as the gemstones were not recognized as being varieties of other minerals until well after the name was in common use such as aquamarine, emerald, and heliodor as varieties of beryl. And that is related to the third characteristic, ductility. You can see the options are endless and when you are commissioning a piece, why compromise a thing when you can choose!
Taking care of gemstones
Steam cleaning is quite effective but can result in thermal shock because of the often-quick temperature change. It can result in cracking because parts of the stone are forced to expand at different times. Most gemstones can be immersed in a solution of mild detergent and warm water.Likewise with pearls; although soaking can result in discoloration, so this should always be avoided. After soaking for a few minutes, gently clean the stone with a soft brush. Pearls should be dried after cleaning, using a soft towel, and air-blown dry. Extra care should be taken to remove dirt from the bottom of the setting, a common place for build-up to occur.
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