Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment - such as
brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. With some
exception such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags,
jewellery normally differs from other items of personal
adornment in that it has no other purpose than to look
appealing, but humans have been producing and wearing it for a
long time - with 100,000-year-old beads made from Nassarius
shells thought to be the oldest known jewellery. Jewellery may
be made from a wide range of materials, but gemstones, precious
metals, beads and shells have been widely used. Depending on the
culture and times jewellery may be appreciated as a status
symbol, for its material properties, its patterns, or for
meaningful symbols. Jewellery has been made to adorn nearly
every body part, from hairpins to toe rings. The word jewellery
itself is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicized from
the Old French "jouel", and beyond that, to the Latin word
"jocale", meaning plaything. Most cultures