Why do people wear jewellery?
People love decoration. They not only decorate their walls with pictures. At Christmas, they also decorate trees with candles and colourful balls. However, people like it even more to decorate something quite different: themselves. They prefer to do that with beautiful fashionable accessories. Whether worn on, in or under the skin – a life without jewellery is hardly conceivable for humans. But what exactly is the enormous fascination it holds for us? Why do we love wearing jewellery – for thousands of years and in different cultures around the world?
From an anthropological point of view, the cross-cultural custom of embellishing the external appearance with jewellery is almost as old as humanity itself. For as early as the Stone Age, people used it to decorate their bodies. At first, this was done by painting their own skin. Later, necklaces were made with pendants of, for example, bones, stones or shells. Even then, the visual enhancement of one's own appearance was in the foreground. At the same time, however, jewellery also served as a means of differentiation and marked membership in a particular social group.
Even today, jewellery is probably the best way to stand out from others. After all, it is literally the most brilliant way of staging your own personality. The use of it as a stylish status symbol is therefore still an essential motive when people buy jewellery. The times when the possession of jewellery was reserved exclusively for the ruling class or at least wealthy people, are fortunately long gone. Because today everyone can use the great aesthetic appeal of such accessories to attract attention.
From a psychological point of view, jewellery always fulfills the need for recognition and esteem: people not only decorate themselves in order to attract attention – at least as important is the desire to please others. Fortunately, wearing jewellery is no longer a woman's business. Men, too, no longer do without the refinement and completion of their own outfit by masculine accessories. After all, they are that small, subtle and very special something that makes the difference. Through jewellery, people experience themselves in their fascinating uniqueness – again and again.
What jewellery tells us about ourselves
Jewellery opens up a whole cosmos of creative possibilities. With jewellery we emphasize our individual style in an original way. As a consequence, it gives us the nice feeling of optimally expressing our personality and of being ourselves. Whether it's elegant ladies' jewellery, extraordinary jewellery for men or playful jewellery for children: with our choice we show how elegant, extraordinary or playful we are – and how we want to be seen by others. Therefore, jewellery in all its varieties always tells us a lot about its wearer. With it, we send subtle messages to our environment. Three exemplary typified profiles of jewellery lovers can illustrate this.
The decidedly elegant lady, for example, wants to impress visually – but in a distinguished way. Her tasteful look is characterized by noble charm and restrained sensuality. She consciously avoids everything that is overly opulent and too abundant, but deliberately sets exclusive accents. Her choice is therefore often on high-quality gold jewellery. Most of the time she confines herself to a filigree gold necklace, which she combines with a more classic gold ring. When it comes to ladies' earrings, she especially likes the hoops, which perfectly match the stylish overall picture.
The sporty-casual jewellery type, however, likes sports and casual looks. It is found in both women and men. This type appreciates the cool naturalness of leather bracelets as well as beautiful silver jewellery. Rings and necklaces of these jewellery wearers are usually also made of silver or stainless steel. Necklaces with pendants never show off too much. There is no room for exquisite luxury in their very active lifestyle: jewellery accessories simply have to be practical. For example, these jewellery lovers wear a smartwatch during outdoor fun in the untouched nature, which fits well with the high dynamics of their modern style.
The glamourous fashion lady attaches great importance to a grandiose, charmingly pompous appearance. Her diva-like presence also determines her jewellery choice: whether ladies' rings, necklaces, earrings or bracelets – they have to be extravagant! Naturally, she also does not aim for minimalism in terms of colours, shapes and materials. Her jewellery pieces are not only colourful and extraordinary, so they immediately catch your eye. They also stay in memory for a long time and leave a brilliant impression.