Stephen Alan's Jewellers - The Jewellery Blog

You’re on a jewellers website, so it’s probably likely jewellery fascinates you, or at least interests you to some degree. But why? After all, we’re just talking shiny stones and metal, crafted to look pretty, aren’t we?

In a way, yes, but reducing something down to its constituent parts is unfair, and realistically could be done with anything – even a lovely meal created by a talented chef is, at its heart, just a bunch of ingredients thrown together.

But, putting food aside, jewellery in various forms has been with us for millennia. Even during the Stone Age period people would craft simple yet beautiful jewellery, including rings and necklaces, from stones and an animal bones etc.

So why the fascination? We could just say because jewellery gives us pleasure, but we thought we’d dig a little deeper, and take a look into 4 of the psychological reasons human beings have made jewellery an intrinsic part of every culture.

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1. You need jewellery

We’re not saying you need jewellery to survive, but we are saying most people have a strong need to adorn themselves with some sort of jewellery, a fact better described when we look at it through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Created by famed American psychologist, Abraham Harold Maslow, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is the theory that human beings have a list of specific needs they needs to fulfill before becoming happy and content.

To help people gain a better understanding, Maslow created a pyramid diagram with the most basic of human needs at the base, such as breathing and eating, and the more complex needs at the top, such as learning acceptance.

As you can see from the diagram above, the needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy from the base up, are –

• Physiological

• Safety

• Love and Belonging

• Self-Esteem

• Self-Actualization

And, to return to jewellery, your need to have jewellery falls between two of Maslow’s needs –

Love and Belonging – This is the need feel loved and/or to feel you belong to a certain group, and jewellery is the ideal way to express this need.

Self-Esteem – Self-esteem simply means you need to feel good about yourself before you can self-actualize, and beautiful new jewellery makes people feel good.

But…

Because the need for jewellery falls between Love and Belonging and Self-Esteem, it means it isn’t essential for our happiness, like good health or eating, it’s just an ingredient that helps us reach the goal of self-actualization.

2. You want to show off with jewellery

This reason for our jewellery fascination comes down to our innate desire to assert our social status, or in other words, to show off. And it’s been going on for centuries…

Whether we’re talking queens and kings, emperors or pharaohs, the rich or the poor, jewellery has always been one of those items people have used to show off.

But, rich or poor, people have many psychological reasons to use jewellery including rings, necklaces and watches etc., to elevate others perception of their status, including –

• Insecurity – This basically comes down to a person feeling unimportant, and masking over that feeling with something that says ‘I am important’.

• To hide difficulties – If someone is going through hard times, either emotionally or financially, they often show off with something that falsely proves otherwise.

• To relive childhood feelings – If a person was given everything they wanted as a child, they often need to relive those feelings of joy by buying stuff like jewellery.

3. You think jewellery’ s worth something

Anthropologically speaking, human beings have always believed in the inherent value of something, whether it’s the monetary, spiritual or emotional value, and precious metals and pretty stones simply cry out value.

With this in mind, when you see a piece of gorgeous jewellery or a gemstone etc., you automatically think ‘that must be expensive’, almost as if you’re programmed or preconditioned to do so.

You might also think about the history of the diamond or ruby etc., and find value in that, or attach a religious belief to a particular piece of jewellery, therefore removing any worldly value, and instead imparting a deeply personal value.

4. You’re being a peacock with jewellery

Most of us want to attract a partner at some point in our lives, and to get the other persons attention we’ll use whatever device we have at our disposal to metaphorically display our feathers, just like a peacock.

And what better way to ‘peacock’ without the use of a feathered display, than by wearing a stunning piece of jewellery that draws attention to the part of you, that you want to show off to that prospective partner?

It might be a stunning pair of earrings that draw attention to erogenous earlobes, a sparkling necklace that leads to a sensual décolletage, or a sophisticated gold watch that takes a wanton eye to a strong, manly wrist and arm.

Looking to show off with jewellery?

If you’re looking to buy some truly epic jewellery, new, preowned or bespoke, visit www.sajewellers.co.uk or pop into the shop at 30B High St Leighton Buzzard, LU71EA.