In a narrow sense discount diamond jewelry can be defined as gems or gemstones mounted in noble metals to enhance their beauty and to make them practical for personal adornment. Increasingly, it has become necessary to consider as jewelry certain noble metal fabrications which contain no gems at all. Such an idea predates us by several thousand years. Further, the metals may be enameled or set with imitation or synthetic stones. Indeed, the metals need not be precious. At times, copper, stainless steel, brass, and plastics of various kinds elbow their way into this elite company. Even so, the prime pieces of modern jewelry, as in several centuries past, use real gemstones—the more precious the better—and the noble metals.