More Jewelry-Related Trivia Did you know . . .
	that King Croesus was the first King to mint gold coins and possibly the greatest collector of gold in history. jewelry, that we most often associate with women, was first worn by men. It was considered by them as both a status symbol and a good luck amulets, hence the expression "Lucky Charm."
the mistress of King Charles VII of France was the first woman to wear diamonds. engagement rings are a "new" invention. Not until 1477 when Maximilian of Austria gave an engagement ring to his betrothed (Mary of Burgundy), did women get two marriage-related rings.

the word carat, associated with diamond size originates from the carob seed that is uniform in weight. Everything, including a diamond has a "breaking point." Diamonds can be chipped and, if they receive a strong blow on a grain line, they can shatter. the birthstone originated with the Hebrews' High Priest who, wore twelve gemstones on his breastplate that stood for the twelve tribes of Israel. This is how the birthstone originated.

for a ruby, sapphire or emerald is its clarity of color that is its most important attribute. you can tell that a pearl is real (natural or cultured) by rubbing it against your teeth. A real pearl will be rough and produce vibrations that you can hear. the "jewels" in a watch's mechanism is what keeps its metal parts from"rubbing" against one another. It's the jewels that do the work in the watch. if an item is 14kt, it means that it's made of 58.3% of pure gold. the largest diamond, the Cullinan weighed more than a pound.

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