A peek at piercings

Surprisingly, body piercing dates all the way back to the Egyptian civilization, not SuperBowl XXXVIII when Ms. Jackson gave millions a two-second glance of her bejeweled bosom. As a matter of fact, if you grab a bible, you'll see a few references to body piercings, including an Old Testament reference to a gold nose ring.

But that was then and this is now. Piercings occur in more creative places, and the rings are more sophisticated. Eyebrows, bellies, lips and even unmentionable areas have rings embedded with diamonds, sapphires, garnets and other colored gemstones dangling from them.

With a Google search, I found quite a few Web sites selling sterling silver body rings. Once I added a few terms to my search, I discovered rings with a higher price point and genuine stones. Body Matters Gold and The Chain Gang seem to stock more of what I'd be looking for if I wasn't terrified of needles.