Ancient jewelry and antique jewelry available to buy online on our website making great gift ideas

Latest News

Our latest additions were added to our site on 1st December 2009.  These are some really interesting, rare and unusual pieces. Each one is unique and irreplacable so buy it now - you won't get another chance once its gone. As usual we showing the BEFORE and AFTER cleaning pictures so you can see their authenticity.

Our old ancient jewellery and antique jewellery collection includes roman rings, roman brooches, bracelets, fibula and necklaces.  We have a vast range of roman jewellery and also ancient gold, bronze and silver jewellery from all ages. Some of this jewelry is 3,000 years old.  This splendid collection of antique body jewellery and antiquities makes a unique and perfect gift or to add to, or start, your own collection.

Each item is accompanied by a full money back guarantee certificate of authenticity.  Check out our Customers Comments page.  This shows genuine emails from as far back as 2004, which was when we first decided to print these emails.  We had been trading online for another 8 years prior to this.  We are a reputable long established company with many satisfied customers who return again and again to purchase from our site.

Care of your Item

See our Care of your Item page for looking after your purchase. As you wear your ring think about the person who created it 60 generations ago.

• What was he like?
• Who did he make it for?
• Was the original owner a merchant, a farmer, a soldier in the legions of the empire?
• What meaning did the symbols or pattern carved into the ring have for him?
• How did it become lost for centuries?
• Think about its journey from the finger of a Roman subject to the finger of your hand. It is a bridge from the present back to the ancient past.

Updates

Our website is updated regularly with additional jewellery and artefacts. If you wish to be notified of any updates to our site please email us

Jewellery History

Since the beginning of time, humans have made use of creating ornamental jewelry for their personal adornment. Traditionally, ancient jewelry displays distinctive character, presents intense artistic images, and carries rich cultural assets through plasticity and expression. However, historically many jewelry items were first created as a means of fastening ones clothing, the display of wealth and status in society as well as for creating storage units for coins and other trinkets in jewelry boxes. It can be seen that various cultures have their own cherished wealthy possessions of precious metals and gemstones. Long ago, wedding dowries included such treasures as the family jewels for a daughter about to be married.

Stylistic evolution from the Early Oriental to Hellenistic-Romanian trends served as a basis for the stylistic changes in the art of jewelry making. Aside from its external beauty properties, every jewellery object has a second, internal life triggered by its semantic significance and perceived through one's mind, intuition or aesthetic sense. Every artifact serves as a symbol of information. Apotropeic emblems, borrowed from everyday life, epos, or myths, and used in the art of jewelry making, carried a certain magical connotation. Some of the most well-known jewelry makers were the ancient Egyptians, who began incorporating gold into their jewelry, which was one of their most favorite metals to work with, approximately 3,000 to 5,000 years ago.

Meanwhile, the ancient Romans added their own special flair of creative artistry into jewelry making styles, such as the ever popular brooch. However, their pinning creation was born of the need for securely fastening their clothing. The ancient Romans were very fond of imported goods and made beautiful use of such gemstones as diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and amber. Although the majority of Roman men wore one ring upon a finger, however, there were some who wore more, their women usually wore many more pieces of jewelry than they. Rings of that time were often carved of beautiful gemstones, and utilized for sealing documents with an engraved wax seal, as was customary during the middle ages by kings and noblemen alike.

Popularity of a particular mythological plot line was connected to the very zeitgeist of the given time period, since the jewelry maker lived through it and tended to be deeply involved with the contemporary events. The art reflected the master's interests in what was currently happening with the society. Through the evolution of jewellery items it is possible to trace not only the historical and cultural situation, but also economical, political and social sides of ancient civilizations, as well as symbolism and semantics of the art produced.

The ancient masters employed various techniques, including casting, granulation, filigree, and inlay, among others. Certain items of jewelry serve as a testament to the advanced artistic skills of the jewelers. Among precious and semi-precious stones used by jewelers in the ancient world the most popular were garnets, rubies, cornelian stones, pearls and emeralds.

Dating your Item

Accurate dating of ancient rings is more difficult than dating coins, which often can be attributed to an exact year, and sometimes even the city in which it was minted. Dating rings must take into account the shape and style, the inscription or symbols contained on it, and the environment in which it was found. For example, earlier rings are simpler in design. Earlier rings contain symbols of the ancient Roman gods. Rings of the mid to late empire may contain a simple Christian cross, or star cross. Rings of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) have more intricate devices cast into the bezel and band, and frequently contain a representation of the cross of Constantine or a Byzantine cross. Attribution of ancient Roman rings is mostly accurate to within 150 years, one way or the other.