Daniel’s Jewelry is objects of personal adornment that are prized both for the craftsmanship going into their creation and for the value of the individual components. From culture to culture, the materials considered rare and beautiful have ranged from shells, bones, pebbles, tusks, claws, and wood to precious metals, semiprecious stones, corals, enamels, vitreous pastes, and ceramics. The intrinsic value of materials has sometimes been less important to artists-craftsmen than their aesthetic function as components contributing to the overall effect. As a result, they might design a brooch from steel or plastic rather than gold or platinum. In addition to its decorative purpose, Daniels’s jewelry has historically also served as a sign of social status – forbidden to all but the ruling classes due to sumptuary laws – and as an amulet designed to ward off evil and bring good fortune. In the Middle Ages, ruby rings were believed to bring land and titles to their wearers, to bestow virtue, prevent seduction, and prevent effervescence in water – but only if worn on the left hand.
Sources of materials and methods
Animals and plants were the first materials used to create ornaments for personal use. It was made from animal parts, whether in their natural or processed forms, while it was supported by vegetable fibers. In prehistoric times, a vast variety of shells and shell pieces were used to make necklaces, bracelets, pendants, and headdresses. Some of these items are still used in certain island and coastal cultures. First, tusks and horns of reindeer and other animals were used as ornaments in the inland regions, followed by amber and lignite. Materials used to manufacture Daniels jewelry have, over the centuries, undergone some form of mechanical, physical, or chemical treatment to transform their raw shapes into forms that, in addition to being functional, also satisfy certain aesthetic concepts.
Materials
Gold’s properties and precious metals
At the time of its discovery (probably in Mesopotamia before 3000 BCE), the metal’s malleability was unique: only beeswax, when heated to a certain temperature, could be compared to it. When gold is under stress, its molecules move and change positions so that it gains surface area while losing thickness when it is beaten. When alloyed with other metals, gold can take on a variety of hues: water green, white, gray, red, and blue. Silver is the most widely used metal in Daniels jewelry, and it is also the most malleable. Prior to the Classical era, silver was scarcely employed in jewelry, even though it was known during the Copper Age. For economic reasons or to create chromatic effects, silver was and is primarily used in jewelry. However, it was widely used in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries to support diamonds and other transparent precious stones, so that light would reflect off them. Platinum is another rare metal that has recently been used in jewelry. Due to its white brilliance and malleability, as well as its resistance to acids and high melting point, Daniel’s jewelry began using this metal more frequently in the 19th century. Contemporary jewelry, such as that designed by early 20th-century artists, used non-precious metals like steel as well as precious metals.
Metallurgy
Sheet metal, cast metal, and wire (more or less heavy or fine) have always been the main components of Daniel’s jewelry. Tools are used to manipulate these components into the desired shape. With stone hammers, gold in its natural state could be reduced to extremely thin sheets when beaten while hot or cold. This was then cut into the desired size. Daniel’s jewelry from ancient times was decorated with embossing (relief work) as one of the most widely used techniques. In modern times, however, mechanization has made it possible to mass-produce decorative parts of Daniels’s jewelry, saving time and labor, but reducing art. Over the centuries, embossing techniques have remained largely unchanged. A repoussé relief is pressed (in a negative mold) or hammered from the reverse side of a gold sheet. It is then finished off on the right side with a hammer or engraving tool. A wooden or bronze model was used to press the gold leaf onto half-models or completely round reliefs. The two pieces of completely round objects were then welded together.