Body piercing jewellery is jewellery manufactured specifically for use in body piercing.
Originally hardly any other jewelry than circular earrings were used in modern Western body piercing. As the body piercing became more of a fashion a vast amount of specially crafted jewelry became available.
Materials used for production have grown from traditional gold and silver to most widespread surgical steel as well as titanium, glass, several kinds of plastic, wood, horn, amber, stone, bamboo, silicone, fossilized ivories, tusks and other bones, etc.
In modern Western body piercing, a wide variety of materials are used. Some cannot be autoclaved, and others are may induce allergic reactions, or harbour bacteria. Certain countries, such as those belonging to the EU, have legal regulations specifying which materials can be used in new piercings.
Breastplates are devices worn over the torso either as protective armor or as an item of religious significance. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing.
In medieval weaponry, the breastplate is the front portion of a piece of armor called a Cuirass.
ReligiousIn Judaism, the breastplate is a square device set with twelve precious stones representing each of the tribes of Israel. It was worn anciently by the high priest in the temple, and is associated with the Urim and Thummim and the Choshen. The breastplate is describe in some detail in Exodus 28:13-30 and Exodus 39:8-21.
The breastplate is also of significance in Mormonism, as one was apparently maintained anciently, along with other sacred artifacts, by Book of Mormon prophets (cf Doctrine and Covenants 17:1, and Joseph Smith History 1:35, 42, 52).
Christian tradition, particularly Catholic, uses a prayer of hymn titled the "Breastplate of St. Patrick," (ostensibly written by St. Patrick), a prayer for protection to God. It exists in an Old Irish text from the 8th century.
broach or in ancient times, a fibula) is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold but sometimes bronze or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gemstones and may be solely for ornament (as in the stomacher) or sometimes serve a practical function as a fastening, perhaps for a cloak.
The earliest known brooches are from the Bronze Age. As fashions in brooches changed rather fast, they are important chronological indicators.
The fibula or fibulae (plural) is an ornamental clasp used by Romans, Greeks and also by Celts and migratory tribes in Europe from the Early Bronze Age. They may have replaced fibulae made of more perishable Neolithic materials, such as bone to as late as 800 AD. Fibulae are useful type-objects: carefully catalogued local typologies, dating and distribution of fibulae can help date finds where neither numismatic nor ceramic materials provide a secure date. Fibulae were shaped somewhat like a large safety pin and were used to hold clothing together. They came in many varieties and held prominent significance for the identity of the wearer, indicating ethnicity (until local costume became Romanized) and class. Elaborately designed fibulae were an important part of Late Antique dress, and simpler ones were part of Roman military equipment.