Materials

What materials are used to enhance our appearance? The most immediate—though not the only—answers are metals and stones.

Metals can be categorised into the following groups:

• Precious metals: such as gold, platinum, and silver.
• Non-precious metals: including iron, copper, alpaca, and aluminium.
• Modern metals developed for space exploration: such as titanium.
• Alloys: combinations of the aforementioned metals.

Stones can be classified into:

• Precious stones: such as diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies.
• Semi-precious stones: including topaz, aquamarine, tourmaline, and lapis lazuli.
• Other decorative stones: such as onyx and carnelian, which belong to the agate family.
• Pyrite: commonly known as fool’s gold, and marcasite, a steel-hued variant of pyrite.

Other materials encompass:

• Synthetic gemstones: created through methods such as the Verneuil process.
• Strass: developed by Frederic Strass (1710–1773) in Strasbourg; essentially, a transparent, colourless glass with a high lead content, easily faceted.
• Enamel: fused glass used for decorative detailing.
• Polished steel: sometimes used as a substitute for marcasite.
• Organic materials: such as ivory, amber, shells, pearls, and coral.
• Less conventional materials: including cow horn, elephant hair, animal hides (leather), and fish skins (such as shark or stingray).