International Jeweler's Day - a holiday for goldsmiths

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International Jeweler's Day is celebrated annually on January 31st. Since ancient times, jewelry has been an indicator of the standard of living, status, position in society, and taste. Expensive stones, both before and now, help to stand out from the crowd, show your level and originality. We see beautiful rings or chains with precious stones on the shelves of jewelry boutiques, but they go a very long way before they get to the windows. Today we will find out what kind of work jewelers do so that we can enjoy sparkling stones on our hands.

Toasts

“Happy professional day to you, dear jewelers! Your job is to give beauty. I wish you inspiration, creative success, joy, good luck, a rich and bright life! Then the fruits of your labor will definitely be unique and will give a holiday to so many.”

“We congratulate the jewelers on their professional holiday and wish them to have as many beautiful things in their lives as they do at work. Let what is not gold be silver, let in your hands be exactly the jewel that you need more than anything in the world.”

“When they say “golden hands,” this is undoubtedly about the jeweler! Only a select few can create real works of art and elegant jewelry worthy of the most beautiful women with their own hands. And today we wish our jewelers inexhaustible inspiration, creative perfection and always excellent results from their painstaking work!

Traditions

Traditionally, jewelers from all over the world hold various exhibitions of their jewelry on this day. Masters meet to exchange experiences, discuss and congratulate. Those interested can attend lectures on jewelry making, and also, importantly, see how jewelry is prepared in practice. Few specialists decide to conduct master classes, since this is far from the cheapest pleasure.

All events of this day are necessarily held in a solemn atmosphere. Everything should be beautiful and rich.

It is also important that many jewelry stores offer discounts and promotions on this day. Agree that this is a very good reason to please your loved one with a beautiful gift.

Present

Book. A catalog of antique jewelry or a gift-bound book about jewelry making would be a good idea for a themed holiday gift.

Portrait. An exclusive portrait, made in a vintage or unusual modern style, will be an excellent gift for a creative person.

Sweet gift. A cake in the form of a precious decoration and with the emblem of a jewelry company will be an original gift that will come in handy for the holiday table.

History of the profession in Russia

The first finds of jewelry date back to the 9th century. The works of ancient Russian jewelers that have come down to us are distinguished by their richness of forms. We find chased frames of icons and Gospels, silver liturgical vessels, and jewelry. The craftsmen used techniques such as filigree, niello, enamel, embossing, and metal carving.

In the 17th century, gem mining began in the Urals. Grinding and cutting factories appeared, and from the 19th century - silver and gold factories. In the second half of the 19th century, the world famous jewelry house of Carl Faberge emerged. His products made of rock crystal, jasper, jade, lapis lazuli, quartz and other stones were supplied to almost all the imperial and royal houses of Europe.

Jewelry making is the art of processing precious materials and making jewelry, a type of decorative and applied art.

Competitions

Prepare a gift Several teams of two people take part in the competition. Couples stand next to each other and hold hands. A gift box, wrapping paper, ribbons and other elements for decoration are placed in front of them. Couples must wrap the gift using only their free hands. The team whose work is the most representative wins.

Sleight of hand For the competition it is necessary to prepare a large number of objects that differ in size, size, and shape. For example: apples, nails, ballpoint pens, clothing items, kitchen utensils, wristwatches, children's toys, wrenches, etc. Participants in the competition are blindfolded and identical sets of objects are laid out in front of them. Contestants must feel and name all the things. The participant who completes the task faster wins.

Auction Participants in the competition are given funny gifts or trinkets: keychains, figurines, sets of sweets, a jar of canned cucumbers, etc. Participants in the competition must tell the audience about the item they received, presenting it as a unique and antique copy. Then an auction is held. The participant who manages to sell his lot for the highest price receives first place.

Diplomacy Day

On February 10, the whole country celebrates Diplomatic Worker's Day. After all, the solution to a host of issues of global diplomatic significance depends on the work of this caste. And the country’s external political course allows for strong and close cooperation between countries in terms of culture, industry, science, technology and economics, as well as many other areas of a strategic nature.

It is Russian diplomats who stand guard over the interests of their country at the international level.

Interesting Facts

• The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has its own Jeweler's Day. It is celebrated on October 23. The holiday was established by Decree of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 2010.
• The word “jeweler” comes from the German juwel – “precious stone”.
• Saints Cosmas and Damian are the patron saints of jewelers and blacksmiths in Orthodoxy.
• There are 8 precious metals: gold, silver, platinum, iridium, osmium, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium.
• Jewelry is not made from pure gold or silver. Due to the softness of these precious metals, products made from them are fragile and short-lived. Metal alloys are used in jewelry. The sample on the product shows how many grams of precious metal are in a kilogram of alloy. 585 standard means that a kilogram of the alloy contains 585 grams of gold and 415 grams of other metals.
• Famous jewelry brands: Harry Winston (USA), Buccellati (Italy), Van Cleef & Arpels (France), Graff (UK), Tiffany (USA).
• The most expensive Faberge egg is the Rothschild egg. It was created in 1902. In 2007, it was purchased by the director of the private Russian National Museum A. Ivanov at a Christie's auction for $18.5 million. Since 2014 it has been in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

International Jeweler's Day

On January 31, the whole world has its own professional holiday - International Jeweler's Day

- the masters note that they make our lives more beautiful.

It is believed that the idea of ​​​​creating this holiday first arose in 2002 at the Golden Ring of Russia festival, which took place in Kostroma. And in 2008, at the festival of young jewelers in Tashkent, it was decided to establish January 31 as International Jeweler’s Day. The date was chosen due to the fact that it is in January that jewelers register their hallmarks.

The profession of a jeweler is one of the most ancient, because people have always loved to decorate themselves. The first jewelry was made from a variety of auxiliary materials that could be processed with the primitive tools of that time. It could be beads made of shells, necklaces made of fangs, pebbles with a hole on a leather strip... The richest and most luxurious jewelry was worn by the leader of the tribe.

Ancient Greece is considered the birthplace of jewelry. Stone carving was made here for the first time, and jewelry made of precious metals with gems appeared. The works of ancient masters still amaze with their beauty and grace. Precious stones, pearls, amber, and semi-precious stones were used in jewelry. It was customary to embroider outerwear with small pearls.

In Rus', precious stones were considered a symbol of supreme power

The history of jewelry in Russia goes back to the distant past and begins with the birth of Kievan Rus and the Vladimir-Suzdal principality (9-12 centuries). The centers of Russian jewelry creativity at different times were the ancient Russian cities of Veliky Ustyug, Vologda, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Pskov, Yaroslavl, St. Petersburg, Moscow and many others.

In Rus', gold and silver settings for stones were widely used, and the precious stones themselves were considered a symbol of supreme power. They were inlaid with the crown, scepter, royal staff and orb. The royal storerooms were constantly replenished with gems, which were brought from all over the world.

In the mid-17th century, mining of Russian gems began. Malachite deposits were discovered in the Urals, and agates, carnelians and jasper were mined in Siberia.

Under Peter I, Ural gems gained worldwide fame. Grinding and cutting factories began to be built in Rus'.

Photo: Dimj, Shutterstock

The brilliant age of Catherine II became one of the pinnacles of Russian jewelry art. The products of jewelry factories of those times are characterized by an original combination of new forms and at the same time traditional Russian aestheticism.

For each time in Russian jewelry there is a favorite combination of gems. If in the second half of the 17th century the works of Russian jewelry factories were distinguished by the combination of bright sapphires and rubies in one product, often in combination with enamels, then in the 18th century the diamond, a cut diamond, became the favorite stone of the aristocracy.

In the mid-19th century, precious stones began to be mined in Russia - diamonds, emeralds, topazes, rubies. The art of stone processing reached a high level at this time.

Not only jewelry, but also various art objects were made from Ural gems: vases, figurines, candlesticks, tabletops, which were in great demand among the wealthy public.

In the second half of the 19th century, the jewelry house of Carl Faberge was founded, which quickly gained fame and began fulfilling orders from the royal family. Faberge jewelry used rock crystal, jasper, jade, lapis lazuli and various types of quartz. The Faberge jewelry house supplied its products to almost all the imperial and royal houses of Europe, Asia and Africa. Faberge products that have survived to this day are very highly valued by collectors and true lovers of jewelry masterpieces.

The traditions laid down by the great jewelers of the past are continued by modern masters (Photo: Andrey Burmakin, Shutterstock)

The traditions laid down by the great jewelers of the past are continued by modern masters, delighting us with beautiful products that meet all the canons of jewelry art.

In the Orthodox tradition

Saints Cosmas and Damian are considered patrons of blacksmiths and jewelers. The holiday in honor of their memory is called Kuzminki and is celebrated twice a year - on July 14 and November 14 according to the new style.

For Catholics

There is a legend about Dunstan, the patron saint of blacksmiths and goldsmiths. One day the devil appeared in his forge and demanded a horseshoe for his hoof. Dunstan recognized the devil and began to shoe him so painfully that he asked for mercy. Dunstan released the devil only after promising that he would never visit the place where there was a horseshoe. St. Dunstan's Feast Day is May 19th.

There are also regional holidays in honor of this profession. Thus, since 2010, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakut jewelers celebrate their professional holiday on October 23.

When is cognac's birthday?

On April 1, an unofficial holiday is celebrated, known mainly in the circles of specialist producers, as well as fans of one of the strong alcoholic drinks - the Birthday of Cognac.

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