Crystal – Royal & Aesthetic Forever

The very mention of crystal brings a smile to my face. Being an ardent admirer of this beautiful mineral, I have always been keen to know more about its history. So, looked up for it on the web, and discovered few interesting facts.

The history of crystal dates back to the Mesopotamian times. Thousands of years ago, artisans used lead oxide to enhance the brilliance of glass. Expensiveness and hardness of the mineral led to the use of lead oxide as an easy alternative to its rock form.

It was in the year 1676 that George Ravenscroft brought about a sea-change in this process. He invented new methods of adding lead oxide to make crystal. Advanced forms of the same are being used by jewelry makers all over the world today.

In 1892, one man changed the use of this mineral forever. David Swarovski, founder of the world-renowned jewelry brand, invented a machine to cut stones perfectly. While working in Austria, he used the Rhine River as the source of energy for his company's machinery. It is from here that the word 'rhinestone' came into being. Today, the term rhinestone is globally used for leaded crystal, especially the imported ones.

Dwell into the Bejewelled past of Jewellery

Women simply adore jewellery ; and men simply love adorning them with the same! But, none of us actually care to find out where it all started. Its history is as interesting as jewel itself.

They have been in use for almost as long as the human civilisation has been in existence. Cro-Magnons, the ancestors of homo sapiens, are said to be the first users of jewellery. Back then, crude necklaces and bracelets made of bone or teeth were used by both men and women as pieces of decoration. Some people used tusks, pearls and even shells for the same.


Copper jewellery was first seen about 7,000 years ago. Ancient Egypt is regarded as the pioneer in jewel making, where this art form started about 5,000 years ago. It soon began to symbolise monetary power and religious power in the Egyptian communities. And, hence came into existence the concept of jewels for self-beautification.

The 'power' of jewellery continues to bedazzle people from all over the world. Although its definition varies from region to region, men and women look forward to being bejewelled with the best!

My Tryst with Crystal

Crystal

The crystal swan of Swarovski is something that I always loved and longed to decorate in my home. That inspired me to buy some crystal jewellery that would exude the same radiance and light as various crystal show pieces in my home. So I decided to buy some crystal jewellery and the best place to buy them was the internet.

There are plenty of sites that offer crystal jewellery. All the pictures of crystal jewellery that I saw, were beautiful and marvelous. I wish I could buy them all. There were necklaces, rings, bracelets that had different colours of crystal pieces studded in them.

I ended up buying a necklace with a crystal pendant and a bracelet of the same set. I also bought a ring with Amethyst in it and bought a wallet with crystal beads embedded in it.