Showing posts with label Hearts and arrows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hearts and arrows. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Men's Silver Cufflinks

Cufflinks are the wonderful accessory for men who recognise style and strong design.

At this point at English Cufflinks you can look around and buy from a refreshing collection of modern silver, gold, titanium and designer cufflinks.


We include over 100 different designer cufflinks for you to choose starting and we aim to provide a pair of men's cufflinks for most wellbeing, professions, hobbies, sports, pastimes and occasions counting Wedding Cufflinks.


All our own cuff links are hand made in the UK, most are hallmarked solid pure silver and suitable for engraving. Our release is fast and free - anywhere.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Gemstone gets set to shine again

Long considered two counties yet to fulfill their economic potential, eastern Taiwan's Hualien and Taitung are ready to shine at the Eastern Taiwan Gems and Jades Exhibition. Hosted by the National Taitung Living Art Center from event features more than 1,000 pieces of precious stones and jewelry.

Three famed gemstones found in eastern Taiwan, hornblende (commonly known as Taiwan jade), blue chalcedony and red coral are the highlights of the fair--a joint effort between the government and industry aimed at kick-starting the island's dormant jewelry industry and generating local employment opportunities.

According to Hsieh Jing-lin, chairman of the ROC Gems and Jades Association and co-host of the exhibition, in the 1960s and 1970s, Taiwan hornblende held a 90-percent share of the global jade market. "Back then, Hualien's Fengtian Village was a mining town best known for the precious stone and the county boasted more than 1,000 gemstone factories," he said.

But toward the end of 1970, Hualien's jade industry went into steep decline as local deposits of hornblende were exhausted. "Over the years, many people believed that untapped veins of the stone could be found in the county's mountainous regions," Hsieh said.

"Exploration was never carried out because at that time, Taiwan did not possess the know-how to prospect for these deposits," he added.

A native of Taitung, Hsieh considers Taiwan's blue chalcedony--distributed over ranges in Hualien and his hometown--to be the world's most beautiful "natural" specimen of the quartz. "Unlike blues from abroad, Taiwan's stones do not need heat treatment to improve their color," he said. "They naturally possess a pure luster and clarity, which make them the darlings of Japanese collectors."

The gem dealer said the region's old mining towns, if tastefully transformed into tourist attractions, could breathe added life into eastern Taiwan's precious stone enterprises. "People would be interested in trekking along winding paths through mines where gemstones exposed can be seen," Hsieh suggested.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hundreds of Byzantine gold coins

A hoard comprising hundreds of gold coins was uncovered in the excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting in 'Giv‘ati car park' in the City of David, in the walls around Jerusalem National Park.

One thousand three hundred year old Chanukah money in Jerusalem: a hoard of more than 250 gold coins was exposed excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting in the 'Giv ‘ati car park' in the City of David, in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park. The excavations at the site are being carried out on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in cooperation with the Nature and Parks Authority and are underwritten by the ‘Ir David Foundation.

Since the archaeological excavations began there about two years ago, they have not ceased in providing us with surprising discoveries that shed new light on different chapters of the city’s past. Currently a very large and impressive building is being uncovered that dates to about the seventh century CE (end of the Byzantine period-beginning of the Umayyad period). A large cache of 264 coins, all made of gold, was discovered among the ruins of the building.

According to Dr. Doron Ben-Ami and Yana Tchekhanovets, directors of the excavation at the site on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “Since no pottery vessel was discovered adjacent to the hoard, we can assume that it was concealed inside a hidden niche in one of the walls of the building. It seems that with its collapse, the coins piled up there among the building debris”. Ben-Ami and Tchekhanovets believe, “This is one of the largest and most impressive coin hoards ever discovered in Jerusalem – certainly the largest and most important of its period.

For comparison’s sake, it should be noted that the only hoard of gold coins from the Byzantine period that has been discovered to date in Jerusalem consisted of only five gold coins. All of the coins bear the likeness of the emperor Heraclius. Different coins were minted during this emperor’s reign; however, all of the coins that were discovered in the City of David in Jerusalem belong to one well-known type in which the likeness of the emperor wearing military garb and holding a cross in his right hand is depicted on the obverse, while the sign of the cross is on the reverse. These coins were minted at the beginning of Heraclius’ reign, one year before the Persians conquered Byzantine Jerusalem.

From the moment that the first coin was exposed, it stood out against the background of its surroundings. It is easy to imagine the excitement took hold of the excavators when they continued to discover many more dozens of gold coins alongside it. These were resting on the ground, in one place where they fell, and were buried there more than 1,300 years ago, until once again man laid eyes on them – this time the amazed eyes of the archaeologists.

Although gold is not among the ordinary discoveries in archeological excavations, not long ago a surprisingly well preserved gold earring, inlaid with pearls and precious stones, was discovered at this site.