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The history of jewellery
Jewellery history goes back many centuries, evolving from shells, animal teeth, and other objects used as adornment in prehistoric times. Jewellery making started in Egypt, Italy, China and South and Central America approximately 5000 years ago. Over the centuries it came to be a sign of social or religious rank. In Renaissance Italy, jewellery making reached the status of a fine art with many Italian sculptors training as goldsmiths. From the 17th century the decorative function of jewellery again came to the fore, overshadowing its symbolic significance. By 1930, industrialization in New York brought jewellery within the reach of the middle class by creating mass production processes.
