An Armful of Gold

An Armful of Gold
By: rogerdeso

Gold has some wonderful properties that has kept man fascinated for thousands of years. What is it about this yellow metal that makes men fight, shows them to be greedy sometimes, and makes them covet what is just a piece of metal?
Well, since the days of the pharaohs, when gold was only for those with royal blood, man has wanted to keep the precious metal for himself. Even in Roman times, the leaders of the day would not allow commoners to wear this kind of jewelry. The more gold a man or his wife wore denoted their place in society so the poorer people would not, or could not, wear it.
Indeed, coins were first minted in gold and silver, with the heads of the relevant king or queen in power at the time as a promise to pay the amount attributed to the weight of the coin. This not only gave everyone a common currency, it also spread the fame of the ruler far and wide within the designated country.

These coins were sometimes strung on necklaces for women to wear and this style is still alive today, albeit that the coins are not in circulation. The necklace does have an ancient Roman look about it though and the style looks great set against a filmy and floaty dress in the Roman style.
In those ancient times, coins strung on necklaces were a handy way to transport wealth along with the owner while making them look good at the same time. When they wanted to purchase something, they merely slipped off a coin from the necklace and paid for the goods at hand. Even chains at one time were used for the same purpose and each link had a specific weight stamped on it so that the buyer and seller could agree on the value with ease.
From these times came the saying that ‘he is worth his weight in gold’. This means that the man had so much gold in his coffers that it literally weighed as much as he did. Some ancient cultures ‘bought’ wives by weighing them against gold and this then became the dowry paid to the bride’s family. This may also have brought about the feeding houses where prospective brides were fattened up for marriage in preparation for the weighing ceremony. A few extra pounds meant a lot more wealth for the family. Wouldn’t it be great if this happened these days? No more dieting to get into wedding dresses!

These days the fashion for wearing gold jewelry has not abated by one iota. Indeed the hip hop artists have brought about a fashion to wear as much gold or ‘bling’ as possible to make a conspicuously wealthy statement. Some of the neck chains that they wear must be extremely uncomfortable since they look to be vastly heavy. On top of that they add very heavy medallions or pendants and the whole thing normally sits down to about waist level.
Away from these extremes though, many people love to add a tasteful touch of gold to an outfit to set off the whole look. While many think that ‘less is more’ there are schools of thought that say that several chains should or could be worn at once to enhance the look. Some people would rather go for the earrings, bracelets and necklace combo and think that this is more than enough. However, for those who just want a touch of gold, gold bracelets must be the easy answer.
Gold bracelets come in many different designs. The solid cuff style suits a lot of people, men included, and can be plain or patterned depending on the taste of the wearer. Some ladies with larger hands find it difficult to slide the bracelet over the knuckles but clever designers have come up with a great solution. The gold bracelet is hinged to allow for it to be opened thus allowing many more people to wear it.
Some years ago gold bracelets came in the form of ‘gate’ styles. That is, it looked like the old farm gates with several cross pieces. These individual gates were then attached together to form a lovely design that became very popular. Of course, it depended on how many cross pieces there were, and how thick the gold was, to denote the cost of the finished article. To stop the accidental loss of these wonderful pieces by the catch coming undone, a small length of very fine chain was attached to the two open ends of the bracelet allowing enough room to slip it over the hand but not enough that it could just fall off the wrist easily. This was a very clever innovation that saved a lot of tears in those days!
It seems that every other day, new designs are coming out. Some gold bracelets are made with stones, both precious and semi precious, to add a little sparkle to the whole look. Those gold bracelets with different colored stones at each junction hark back to Victorian times when the first letter of each stone spelled out a secret message. How romantic was that? Today though, the stones are more than likely added just to give an extra touch of color to the finished product.
It was once thought that pearls were bad luck but in this day and age, many people love to have gold bracelets with pearls embedded in them. Pearls seem to suit all skin tones and, added to the gold setting, make wonderful gifts particularly for weddings, birthdays and anniversaries.
For younger ladies the bracelets worn high up the arm between elbow and shoulder, set off a beautifully toned arm. This style seems to emulate the Roman style discussed earlier and it has become somewhat of a fashion statement amongst those who are invited onto the red carpet. Toned arms are necessary for this style otherwise the world’s eyes will be drawn to floppy skin which is certainly not the desired effect that anyone would want to give.