The mass production of glass in Ancient Rome explains the common use of this material in jewellery-making. The ageing process of glass endows Roman glass jewellery with unique qualities. For instance, contaminants manufactured into the glass, combined with the surrounding environment over thousands of years, result in beautiful iridescence and speckling, where the glass might formerly have been transparent.
Byzantine jewellery merged Roman traditions with innovations such as Christian iconography and heavily influenced the rest of the Medieval world.
