No matter what you do to your jewelry store and its contents, it is all about promotion. Whether you are putting together display cases or looking at purchasing custom jewelry boxes, you are making your products stand out and “speak” to the potential customer. They also are requisite for those who want to store their jewelry safely. Yet, what exactly is a jewelry box?
What Is a Jewelry Box?
First, a jewelry box is a container. It may be made from plastic, acrylic, wood, leather or cardboard. It can hold and display a vast array of jewelry. This includes the cheap, the mid-range and the stupendously expensive. The items may be rare or readily available. The pieces may be vintage or modern. It does not matter to the box. As the name indicates, it is to hold jewelry.
Caskets: Early Jewelry Boxes
In the past, jewelry boxes were frequently called caskets. These wooden or metal boxes possessed hinged lids that the owners – restricted to the nobility, the priesthood and the wealthy, could lock. They kept the box and the key in a safe place. At that time, the contents tended to be precious, rare and beautiful gems – not paste or costume jewelry.
At times the caskets were simple – a combination of metal, leather and sating lining. On the other hand, some jewel caskets were as expensive and elaborate as the jewels they contained. Over time, craftspeople produced such custom jewelry boxes or caskets out of other materials including porcelain. Following the Industrial Revolution, the caskets slowly evolved into the boxes with which everyone is now familiar.
Jewelry Boxes in America
This is not to say that these new jewelry boxes were all of a type. While they maintained the role of providing a safe place for one’s valuable pieces, it did not mean they had to be plain. In the United States, the customized jewelry box adopted the symbols and styles of the new land. Some depicted plantation homes and scenes from American history. Commercialization made them available to everyone. Companies began to produce them to meet the demand. In some cases, jewelry boxes became souvenirs of special events. This was the case for those manufactured for the St. Louis World’s Fair in1904. These were affordable and mass-produced to meet the demand for memorabilia and jewelry boxes.
Custom Jewelry Boxes
In the past, several companies sprang up to mass-produce jewelry boxes. Over the years, they adopted different popular motifs. They made naturalist, art nouveau and modern designs. While many have failed and foreign corporations have taken over the market, companies continue to produce jewelry boxes. However, only the best will provide their customers with custom jewelry boxes that match the quality of their predecessor – the jewelry casket.