One of the most ancient forms of expression, art of jewelry embodies rich spiritual and applied experience of processing historical and cultural information. Modern art historians pose many questions regarding this process and its mechanics. This paper attempts to solve these questions.

The surviving jewelry fragments, casting molds and models testify that most of the jewelry was produced by casting method. For instance, differently shaped rings (see Treasures of Oxus, Tajikistan Tillya-tepe, Afghanistan) could be created in casting forms made of sepia shells or fine-grained sand

During the Twentieth Century, there has been a fundamental change in attitude towards in terms both of its design and its function. This century has become a period of revolution in jewellery design, and the history of how jewellery has changed reflects much of the social history of our times.

We don't need Wagner or Tolkien to tell us how powerful rings can be, though it must be said those two make the point pretty convincingly. Most of us have conducted our own ring cycles since childhood. When I was a boy, one of my most prized possessions was a cheap plastic ring, acquired perhaps by mailing in cereal box tops. I want to think that it had some tenuous connection to the effort to defeat the Axis powers late in World War II, a struggle my friends and I desperately wanted to be a part of. I seem to recall the ring had a compartment for secret information, but that may be a trick of my memory. I remember clearly, though, that the ring made me a star among my 7-year-old spies-in-waiting, a status that I hoped to retain with my high-school ring and my college ring, both now as lost, in my case, as the legendary golden trinket forged by Alberich and the Nibelung.

The fascination in collecting miniature portraits arises from an awe of the skill of the artist, with each portrait being a unique and original work of art. This is enhanced by the opportunity to research individual sitters and the historical events associated with them. Such research often proceeds like a detective story

During the 19th century the popularity of the miniature portrait was eroded by the invention of photography and its rapid spread after 1840, firstly as daguerreoptypes and later in other formats as they were introduced. The advantage of a photograph was that it was much quicker and cheaper than a painted miniature portrait.

This led to various ways in which the two skills over-lapped. At first glance this portrait of a lady looks like a painted miniature, but by reference to the extreme top and bottom left, one can see it is actually a photograph, which has been hand coloured with water-colour. Some early daguerreotypes were also hand tinted.

My collection focuses on original miniatures and, apart from some illustrative examples, tends to exclude those produced as decorative items. Nevertheless, some copies by famous artists such as Henry Pierce Bone, have become important items over time. Other decorative items are very collectible in their own right.

Original miniatures, where someone sat for the portrait and both the sitter and the artist are known, are preferred for this collection. They probably represent only one or two in every hundred miniatures offered for sale in marketplaces such as on-line auctions.

Today it is not a favorable time for the country wanting some humanitarian assistance to trouble about vogue’s fancies and nevertheless, what in vogue there recently? Surely jewelry is. Why? This is hardly a single reliable thing, which still is valued both in internal and international market. Mostly, by the way, due to the outstanding properties of Soviet precious metals, but only … In the present volcanic situation people seek for guarantees of stability, for their investments.

The present information is the first attempt to comprehend the Haifa University ancient jewelry collection, as well as stone, bone and glass adornment as a whole. It will be recalled that the museum was founded in 1984 by Reuben and Edith Hecht, whose rich art collection gave name to the museum. Diverse relics and monuments of history, archaeology, culture and art from the Canaanite period (3150-2200 BC) to XX century, presented mostly by paintings in separate Gallery wing form the present museum exposition. Jewelry monuments are in the first and second floor show cases naturally supplementing the other archaeological findings.

At present it is difficult to comprehend the history of ancient Israelite jewelry art as a whole. However by analysis of individual items we can observe stages of its development. Accordingly let us consider the gold earrings and pendants  in the Hecht collection at the Haifa University Museum.