Costume jewelry is defined by Answers.com as "Jewelry made from inexpensive metals and imitation or semiprecious stones." Hmm, this would include quite a few things that I would not normally put in that category. And what, exactly is an "inexpensive metal?" Silver is still reasonably priced, although that could change.

Semiprecious stones can include such beauties as opals, onyx, amethyst,  turquoise and even diamonds and rubies, depending on the grade of the gemstone. The term precious or semi-precious may change according to the fashion of the day.

The key to  jewelry shopping and wearing is "What makes you happy?" Choose those gemstones, precious or not, that seem to lift your spirit. What seems "precious" to one person may be ho-hum to another. For instance, I have known women who wouldn’t be interested in owning a diamond ring, but would go gah-gah over a topaz birthstone.

Tags: costume jewelry

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Types of Jewelry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.