Jewels of mind and mentality

'Show me your jewelry and I'll tell you who you are'.
This, in short, is the history of Dutch jewelry over the past 50 years. Sparkling jewels, gleaming gold and precious pearls have had a pretty hard time of it over the past five decades.
Once the symbols of prestige and fashion, they were steamrollered by the radical approaches of young designers. Aluminium, stainless steel and plastic pushed out precious metals. Glass, wood, paper and surrogates usurped the place of diamonds and other minerals.