Blasts From the Past: How Historical Jewelry Is All The Rage
Four hundred years ago, Spanish ships that travelled from Seville to Havana happened to hit rough patches of weather and sunk to the bottom of the ocean; today, jewelers have taken a keen eye to shipwreck salvage operations in order to launch new lines of jewelry. Simple gold and silver coins found in these shipwrecks have been cleaned, formed to fit within a design, and sold to the public: Mel Fisher, for instance, sells shipwreck jewelry like the 14k pendent for $900 or the emerald ring for $2500.
Designs from the past have become a new sensation for customers who want to wear the same designs that historical persons like Elizabeth the Great or Cleopatra may have worn. The Giani Bernini Cleopatra re-creation necklace, for instance, borrows upon illustrations of the great Egyptian queen from sources 2000 years old in order to create a $450 24-karat reproduction of the original necklace. It’s not just a necklace for a costume party; it’s a great piece for anyone with an interest in the past, or those who want to wear a piece of jewelry that’s a guaranteed conversation starter.
Some pieces of historical jewelry, on the other hand, aren’t replicas at all. The CraftsOfThePast jade talisman is a one of a kind piece of history for only $215 and may date back as far back as 500 AD. Many lifetimes of work are available in such pieces, telling the story of artifacts passed down over the course of centuries, now available for anyone to put in their own collection.
