The history of fine jewellery is very long indeed and who invented it depends on your definition of what fine jewellery is. If you think that a bone with intricate carving on it qualifies as fine jewellery then it was prehistoric man or the cavemen that invented it. The wearing of jewellery really does go back that far.
The earliest examples of jewellery are Nassarius shell beads, the oldest ones were found in what is now modern Israel and have been dated at over 100,000 years old. It is possible jewellery was around even before that, but just did not survive the rigours of time.
Fine Jewellery Using Gemstones and Precious Metals
However, if your definition of fine jewellery involves precious stones held in precious or semi-precious metal you have several contenders from across the globe. Practically every culture has a history of fine jewellery stretching back thousands of years, so it is impossible to say who was the very first.
Amongst the first to work gold with gemstones were the Egyptians around 4,500 years ago. The Greeks did it too, but on a smaller scale and their jewellery was worn only for special occasions to begin with whereas the Egyptians wore their jewellery on a day to day basis.
Modern Fine Jewellery
The modern definition of fine jewellery is still quite hard to pin down, but most people agree that it is handmade, often bespoke jewellery that is made from precious metals and precious gemstones.
There is no way to say when the making of modern fine jewellery started either. There have been fine jewellers making it for hundreds of years. The word jeweller came from the Anglo-French word “Joule” which meant article of value used for adornment
The term fine jewellers did not take off until just a few hundred years ago. Fine jewellery at one stage looked like it was going to being replaced by mass produced, machine produced jeweller, but in the past few decades this trend has been reversed and more fine jewellers are being trained up and are becoming successful again.
Author Bio:-
Selini Fine Jewellers have been making bespoke jewellery for decades and now have clients throughout the globe.