Once the Renaissance came along, and world exploration increased, the complexity and variety of jewelry skyrocketed. Gold and jewels from the New World allowed jewelers to work with new designs and materials.
The Aztec and Mayans created numerous works of jewelry with gold because it was so readily available to them. Often the Aztecs would adorn their gold jewelry with feathers to denote status. Sadly, the ready availability of gold for the Aztecs would prove their downfall as the gold lust of the Spanish obliterated their civilization, ending it forever.
The Mayans would make amazing jewelry out of jade, gold, silver, bronze and copper, creating similar designs to the Aztecs, often with lavish headdresses. In their pre-history, the Mayan had jewelry of stone and bone due to their limited access to metal. In the Mayan Empire, only the merchants and nobility wore expensive jewelry, as did the Aztec.
In India, the legacy with jewelry making is considered the longest in the world. India developed its techniques through 5,000 years of uninterrupted discovery.
Until 2100 BC, until metal was widely used by the East Indians, beads were used to denote status. Often, beads would be painted with lavish designs and children of bead makers often learned how to work with beads from a very early age.
When the Industrial Revolution came along, and the new middle class began to grow, jewelry was put in the hands of millions of people who would have never have had access to it before. In the modern times, widespread wealth and cheaper methods to get the components of jewelry, has allowed a huge base of people to wear various assortments of jewelry.
Currently, the United States is first in the world for buying jewelry, making up 31 percent of the world's market. Japan, India and China make up nine percent each, while Italy takes up five percent.
By 2015, the United States will only make up 25 percent of the world's market, while China and India will account for 13 percent each. The Middle East will maintain their market share of nine percent, while Europe and Japan will see their share shrink to less than four percent for Japan and three percent for Italy and the United Kingdom.
As we can see, throughout history, jewelry has changed greatly but the reasons behind wearing it has not. As it did 40,000 years ago, it still denotes status and wealth and is seen as a symbol of power.
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