Enamel Jewelry – Color Concerned Jewelry
Enamel jewelry, nowadays, has a beautiful finish and comes in hundreds of wonderful colors. The new enamel has emerged these days. There is bright epoxy paints that embrace the color spectrum, which can turn a plain piece of pewter jewelry into something stunningly original.
The epoxy paints, perhaps, are used to produce today's so many masterpieces. This material shouldn't be strictly called enamel, but at first glance there isn't much difference. Purists may differ, but materials used to produce various effects do alter through time.
It is fascinating that some enamel works found were as early as the Hellenistic epoch. This period is from Alexander the Great's death in 323 B.C. to 146 B.C. when the Romans conquered Greece. By the end of this period, enameling and the use of colored stones in jewelry making was becoming more popular than works done by the gold and silversmiths of the day. Although people of all times have a favor of colorful rubies or earring insets, however, inexpensive enamel jewelry is much competitive with the precious metals for the eye of some rich shoppers.
The Byzantine world in the 5th century saw the creation of very ornate jewelry. Enameling, along with peals and precious stones, was liberally used in the designs. During this period, there was much beautiful jewelry created, all the way up to 1204 when Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine empire fell during the Crusades, a time so many gorgeous objects of art were melted down for their worth in gold and silver alone.
In the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxons created some intricate cloisonné enamel works, much of which was polychrome that meant "many colors". These were detailed designs that able to remind people of Celtic knot work. While in the early Renaissance, enamel jewelry was still a favorite medium for many jewelry artists.
Enamel will be found wherever artists create jewelry. From detailed cloisonné work in ancient China to today's epoxy enamel earrings and pins, colors always evoke emotion and excitement. Enamel has long been a way to enter color into designs without having to supply the expensive and limited variations of precious and semiprecious stones.
The making process of enamel jewelry involves fusing colored as well as powdered glass to metals using heat. As for handmade enamel jewelry, it has its origins in some earliest civilizations of human beings. It dates back dozens of centuries, and examples can be found among the surviving relics of the Ancient Roman and Egyptian empires.
Handmade enamel jewelry is often used to fire the creative impulse, just like fused glass ornaments. In fact, many jewelry pieces are meant not only to just reflect the imagination of the artist, but they are also created to fire the creative and cognitive impulses within the viewer. When viewing the tree of life pendant, for example, many viewers are provoked into thinking about its meaning and relevant mythology. What’s more, it may also prompt thoughts regarding to spirituality and to one's own spiritual development.
