Jewellery has been made and worn almost since man began to walk the earth. The earliest jewellery was made from pieces of bone and seashells with a hole drilled through and threaded onto a piece of string to form bracelets and necklaces. We still find remains of this jewellery in burial pits. We can assume that the jewellery was worn permanently or kept in a pouch if not in use.As civilizations grew and people settled down to a more fixed urban life, the wealthy began to collect jewellery. They therefore needed a container to store it and thus begins the story of the jewellery box!A brief history of the jewellery boxJewellery boxes were in common use by the Egyptians in 5000BC. Wealthy Egyptians, both male and female, liked to adorn themselves with beautiful jewellery. They had a fondness for gold and semi-precious stone such as Lapis Lazuli. These early boxes were also security for valuable treasures and were often fitted with locks.By the middle ages in Europe, before the arrival of...
