Modern jewellery has undergone many changes in terms of the design, materials and technology that is incorporated in their manufacture.
For example, yellow gold is no longer the most popular metal for settings and jewellery. The growing popularity of expensive titanium means that the more affordable white gold is becoming more popular as a substitute.
Jewellery is not immune to trends and changes in politics and society. New awareness of the ethics of diamond mining – illustrated by Leonardo Dicaprio in the film Blood Diamond – means that consumers are more discerning and questioning about where their diamond jewellery is coming from.
One of the most interesting developments in modern jewellery design and technology takes place in the field of watches design. Once upon a time, it would be that your new fancy watch would stop working. You would have to make a trip to the jewellers or the watchmaker to have the battery changed. It wasn’t an expensive affair – more of a nuisance.
This is no longer the case with many of the more modern watches which don’t run on batteries, but on kinetic energy created by the movements of your body while you wear the watch. The designer watches turn the kinetic energy into electrical energy, meaning you have eco-friendly watches which never need batteries changing or winding up. They are also able to store energy and put themselves to sleep, thus saving energy; re-setting themselves when movement begins again.
Concern for the environment has an impact of every area of our lives – including jewellery design – and it will be interesting to see how jewellery and watches develop over the next decade.
Tags: designer watches, Diamond Jewellery, Diamond Watches, Jewellery, Watches