oved one a special gift each year Traditionally, every

more joyous and heartfelt than giving your loved one a special gift each year Traditionally, every anniversary is celebrated by giving a gift made from a different material. It isn’t clear when this traditional list came into existence. It probably originated in the Middle Ages when very few people could afford rare stones and jewelry and it evolved over time. But these days, giving paper, cotton or glass somehow doesnt seem to capture the significance of the happiest day of your life.

There is a new tradition gaining popularity, however, and it will please your loved one a whole lot more than paper and glass. Its the growing trend of giving a lasting gift of beautiful gemstone jewellery for your anniversary.
Here is a list of gemstones that are quickly becoming the accepted norms to commemorate each anniversary.

If, however, you are a purist and don’t want to break with tradition there are other creative ways to satisfy your traditional inclinations with modern flair. For example, you can always tuck a ring inside a leather wallet, ties a cluster of roses together with a bracelet, or hide a necklace inside the pocket of a silk robe. You’ll be following time honoured e earliest know references are to Silver (25th Wedding Anniversary) and Gold (50th Wedding Anniversary). These appear to originate in Middle Europe (Germanic Region) and involved the spouse giving his wife a silver garland when they had been married for 25 years. Some European countries also celebrate Twelve and a half years of marriage using Copper as the Anniversary Symbol.

We have found references to materials associated with specific years which follow the traditional anniversary lists for the first 5 years of marriage and then every 5th year up to 25th and then 50th and 75th.

The earliest reference we have found other than the Silver or gold is to the 5th anniversary (Wood) which implies this ere are currently 2 Diamond Anniversaries, one at 60 and one at 75 years. The 75th anniversary is the original traditional diamond anniversary with the 60th being added when Queen Victoria (English Empire Monarch) celebrated her Diamond Jubilee on her 60th anniversary of accession to the throne in 1897 and this has since been adopted as an appropriate Wedding Anniversary also, at first glance seems logical however Queen Victoria’s Husband died in 1861 21 years after they got married thus linking the 60th Wedding Anniversary to the Diamond Jubilee may have made one not amused!.

In 1937 the American National Retail Jeweller Association issued a more comprehensive list which associated a material for ebectradiWest Africa, the decline of the Atlantic slave trade in the 1820s caused dramatic economic shifts in local polities. The gradual decline of slave-trading, prompted by a lack of demand for slaves in the New World, increasing anti-slavery legislation in Europe and America, and the British Royal Navy’s increasing presence off the West African coast, obliged African states to adopt new economies. Between 1808 and 1860, the British West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard.

Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade, for example against “the usurping King of Lagos”, deposed in 1851. Anti-slavery treaties were signed with over 50 African rulers. The largest powers of West Africa: the Asante Confederacy, the Kingdom of Dahomey, and the Oyo Empire, adopted different ways of adapting to the shift. Asante and Dahomey concentrated on the development of “legitimate commerce” in the form of palm oil, cocoa, timber and gold, forming the bedtion while delivering an anniversary gift that engenders deep feelings for years to come.