Giving a Tiffany heart silver necklace to someone you love or care about may seem like an easy and automatic choice by the person giving the item, but the sentiment behind the gift and the actual giving goes back to the prehistoric ages. The act of gifting jewellery has symbolism as well as love behind it. It has its roots in bestowing luck on people you care about.
How It All Started
There is something about a pretty, shiny or sparkly object that has appealed to human beings from the very beginning of time. At some point, the people of these long-lost tribes began to equate finding or receiving these objects with fortunate occurrences in their daily lives.
The objects were seen as providing a force that controlled or influenced random positive things. Today, this is described as simple luck. But people still believe in luck, as they believe in the sentiments behind certain particular gifts of jewellery.
Assigning Meaning to Objects
As human development advanced through the ages, people began to differentiate these objects and place different meanings and values.
Hunters started wearing necklaces of teeth, bones, horns and feathers in the hopes of providing luck that the day’s hunt would be successful. Over time the decorations of the most successful and powerful hunters would come to symbolise courage and hunting skill.
A shiny coloured stone would be offered to protect a friend or loved one when they embarked on a dangerous journey. A different coloured stone might be given to a pregnant woman to guard her health during childbirth.
These objects weren’t simply carried in the recipient’s pockets; they were displayed and converted into functional items. Stones decorated clasps and pins. Seals for embossing documents were made out of attractive agate and quartz pebbles. Over time, they began to be associated with rank and privilege, which led to an increase in value for some of the materials.
Introduction of Metalworking
The years collectively called the bronze ages are generally thought to be when metalwork was developed. As people discovered that different alloys could be shaped into objects, they started fashioning items to wear and decorating them with colourful stones and other objects. And the age of jewellery-making was born.
Jewellery Becomes a Meaningful Gift
As jewellery-making became more sophisticated, it became more associated with fashion, but some types of jewellery still had meaning in matters of the heart. Wedding rings will always signify commitment, and friendship bracelets are called that for a reason.
Some pieces of jewellery can be given in a number of different situations and mean something different to both the giver and the recipient. The Tiffany heart silver necklace, for instance, could be given as a gift by a romantic suitor or by a father to a daughter who has just graduated. The rules of jewellery gifting are slowly changing.
Browse through the MNML website to find the perfect gift for someone you love. They may not be expecting it, but we’re sure they’ll appreciate it.