Wearing good luck jewelry is almost as old as human civilization. Humankind has always been fascinated with its environment and the objects around it. So it is no surprise that more magical properties were eventually attributed to objects, creating items like good luck jewelry.
There is no shortage of global mystical beliefs, and even now, in our modern age, people continue to wear good luck jewelry because they believe these objects will bring them abundance and happiness.
Everyone needs a bit of good luck in their lives, and good luck jewelry is harmless. Whether you think they will work for you or not depends wholly on your faith and beliefs. But to the believers, having their most crucial good luck jewelry around (or on them) is a prerequisite to an abundant life.
Are you interested in crafting good luck jewelry at home?
Xinar offers the world the most extensive collections of sterling silver charms. Find an incredible array of symbols for good luck jewelry in various collections, including animal and pet charms, celestial and zodiac charms, spiritual and ritual charms, and so much more.
Symbols in Good Luck Jewelry
The Four-Leaf Clover
The four-leaf clover symbolizes St. Patrick’s Day and good fortune throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Some believe that clovers gained their religious significance because St. Patrick used one with three leaves to explain the Holy Trinity to his congregation. Finding a four-leaf clover is like striking gold because it is so much more uncommon than the more common three-leaf variety. As a bonus, they come with a charming legend: a person carrying one would be able to see fairies among the flowers.
The Hamsa
The Hamsa, a Hebrew symbol for protection against the “evil eye” and other negative energies, literally means “the Hand of God.” Its wearer was also believed to be endowed with power and protection. Jewelry woven with the Hamsa symbol is still commonly worn and displayed at front doors.
Elephants
In Asia, elephants have long been regarded as omens of prosperity. Because of their size and noble qualities, such as strength, loyalty, and longevity, elephants are held in high esteem.
The Hindu elephant god Ganesha, also known as the “Remover of Obstacles,” is a profoundly symbolic figure who stands for various ideas, including wisdom, knowledge, protection, and the rejection of material possessions in favor of spiritual ones. Elephants and Ganesha are common subjects in Eastern and Western jewelry and sculpture.
Dragons
The Chinese culture has long associated the dragon with good fortune. The legendary creature had the power to halt floods, bring rain, command the oceans, accompany humans to the afterlife, and keep them safe from harm on Earth. They embodied noble qualities such as bravery, dignity, fortitude, intelligence, and more. There are dragons on chariot bells, bridges, swords, and, of course, jewelry.
Ladybugs
Ladybugs are regarded as lucky charms around the world. The Middle Ages symbolized safety and a promise that a young woman would soon find her life partner. Also, if a ladybug landed on you, good fortune was guaranteed.
What’s the History of Jewelry?
At the time of its discovery, the malleability of gold was a novel phenomenon; before then, the only thing that could be compared to it was beeswax, once heated to a specific temperature.
By shifting and rearranging itself molecularly in response to the stresses it is subjected to, gold increases its surface area to compensate for the reduction in thickness that occurs during the beating process.
Gold is often alloyed with other metals like aluminum, nickel, zinc, copper, and silver to create modern jewelry in a rainbow of colors.
Gold and silver are also a mainstay of good luck jewelry everywhere. People believe up to now that simply wearing gold meant you’re attracting good health and luck.
Silver is the second most popular metal for jewelry making after gold, being both soft and malleable. However, the use of silver in jewelry was uncommon before the Classical period, despite the metal’s existence by the time that period began. Silver’s use in jewelry stems from its affordability and the chromatic effects it can produce. However, in the seventeenth the nineteenth centuries, it was commonly used as a base in settings for diamonds and other transparent precious stones to enhance their reflectivity.
Platinum is another rare metal that has recently been used in jewelry. Because of its white radiance, malleability, resistance to acids, and high melting point, this metal was increasingly popular in jewelry throughout the 19th century and beyond.
However, nonprecious metals like steel were first used in jewelry by 20th-century designers.
Sheet metal, metal cast in a mold, and wire are the traditional building blocks of jewelry (heavy or fine).
These parts are shaped in the desired way through the application of methods that require the use of instruments.
Gold was beaten down to thin sheets from its natural state, either while hot or cold (this operation could be performed with stone hammers). Next, the sheets were trimmed to the appropriate dimensions.
By examining the earliest jewelry, we can see that embossing was a standard method of decorating metal sheets used in jewelry (relief work).
Even though modern mechanization has made mass production of decorative parts of jewelry possible, with significant savings of time and labor but with a corresponding lack of art, embossing techniques have remained unchanged throughout the centuries.
Repoussé involves creating relief by pressing or hammering the design on the back of a sheet of gold before polishing and finishing the design on the front using a hammer or engraving tool.
Gold leaf imprints were pressed onto models to create half-modeled or fully spherical reliefs. Objects that were otherwise wholly round were split down the middle and welded back together.
Engraving is a form of embossing or relief that involves pressing a design into metal using a sharp tool.
By carefully piercing the gold leaf, beautiful openwork patterns can be made. This method was used to join two assemblies. Small or minute gold balls are used in the decorative technique of granulation to create silhouettes on metal.
