Form and function Jewellery

kenyan man wearing tribal beads

humans have used jewellery number of different reasons:

functional, fix clothing or hair in place, or tell time (in case of watches)
as marker of social status , personal status, wedding ring
as signifier of form of affiliation, whether ethnic, religious or social
to provide talismanic protection (in form of amulets)
as artistic display
as carrier or symbol of personal meaning – such love, mourning, or luck

most cultures @ point have had practice of keeping large amounts of wealth stored in form of jewellery. numerous cultures store wedding dowries in form of jewellery or make jewellery means store or display coins. alternatively, jewellery has been used currency or trade good; example being use of slave beads.

many items of jewellery, such brooches , buckles, originated purely functional items, evolved decorative items functional requirement diminished.

jewellery can symbolise group membership (as in case, of christian crucifix or jewish star of david) or status (as in case of chains of office, or western practice of married people wearing wedding rings).

wearing of amulets , devotional medals provide protection or ward off evil common in cultures. these may take form of symbols (such ankh), stones, plants, animals, body parts (such khamsa), or glyphs (such stylised versions of throne verse in islamic art).