Jewellery vs Jewelry: What’s the difference and does it even matter?

The subject of jewellery vs. jewelry often comes up on social media and in the workshop and has recently led to some surprisingly heated exchanges! So we thought we would take a look at these different spellings and pronunciations, where they come from, where they’re used, and ultimately answer the question of whether it really matters at all.

Origin of the word jewellery

The word "jewellery" (or "jewelry" in American English) has its origins in the Latin word "jocale", which means "plaything" or "toy". This term evolved through Old French as "jouel",which referred to a piece of ornamentation or adornment. By the Middle Ages, the term "jewellery" entered the English language, originally appearing in the form "jewell" or "jewel," which referred specifically to a precious stone or ornament.

Which spelling is correct? Jewellery or Jewelry?

We here at the Cognac Jewellery School prefer to use the spelling “Jewellery” as the name would suggest, because we are English and from the UK, but both the spellings "jewellery" and "jewelry," are correct. The difference lies in the variety of English being used:

Jewellery is the preferred spelling in British English.

Jewelry is the preferred spelling in American English.

So, you can use either spelling depending on your audience or the version of English you use.

Why are there different spellings?

British English was shaped by various languages and cultures over many centuries (predominantly French, Latin and German) and continues to be influenced by the grammatical rules and spellings from those origins to this day.

This influence led to (dare I say unnecessary) complex spellings of British English words. One such example is the French grammatical rule of a vowel always following a double ‘L’, hence the second ‘E’ in jewellery.

The Americans, who weren’t wedded to archaic linguistic rules, simply took it upon themselves to simplify these spellings to make them phonetic. Thus Jewellery became Jewelry.

It can be seen regularly throughout American English in words such as Color (Colour in British English), Check (Cheque in British English) and Favorite (Favourite in British English)

Pronounciation

The pronunciation of "jewellery" and "jewelry" is quite similar, but there are slight differences due to the number of syllables.

- Jewellery (British English): This is pronounced as "JOO" + "uhl" + "ree", which has three syllables: "jew-el-ry."

- Jewelry (American English): This is pronounced as "JOOl + rEE", which has only two syllables: "jewel-ry."

In both cases, the "jew" part is pronounced like "joo," but the British spelling with the extra “l” and “e” adds an additional syllable

Does it even matter?

Ultimately, as far as we’re concerned the purpose of language is to convey meaning, and in that respect whether you are a Jewelry person, or a Jewellery person, and however you pronounce it, the likelyhood is that both will be understood to mean what is intended.

And finally to our American friends who may want to take issue with anything here I would simply say Aluminium or Solder or Route. Two nations divided by a common language, united by the love of Jewellery I mean Jewelry …… Urgh!