A modern jewelry manufacturer shares a long tradition with craftsmen that goes back to the earliest known human civilizations. Archaeological sites have yielded fabulous jewelry from thousands of years ago, when a jewelry manufacturer had much cruder tools to work with than modern artists do. Fine examples of ancient jewelry come from digs in Egypt and the areas now occupied by modern day Iraq. China and the Americas also have jewelry traditions dating back thousands of years.

Copper and gold were used by early jewelry manufacturers, along with various precious and semi-precious stones such as turquoise and jade. Copper and gold both occur in nature in a relatively pure state and they have low melting points and are easy to shape, so they were ideal materials for early jewelry artists to work with. Even with the simple tools of thousands of years ago, crafters made jewelry pieces with amazing detail and intricate designs that would be the envy of the richest heiress today.

Jewelry manufacturers have also played key roles in history. Early trade between Europeans and Americans included mass manufactured glass jewelry beads moving west in exchange for furs and other American products moving east. Among the most valuable things stolen from the Aztec and Incan empires by Europeans were shiploads of manufactured gold pieces, including dinnerware and fine jewelry.

Due to gold’s almost indestructible nature and intrinsic value, it is one of the most extensively recycled materials on earth. So, that beautiful diamond ring on your finger may contain gold originally mined in Mexico and fashioned into a ceremonial goblet by an early Aztec jewelry manufacturer!