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Show me your favorite books on bling!

Pinkmartini87

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Messages
1,315
Hi all, would love to see what other fellow bibliophiles enjoy in terms of books on bling, or what’s on your bling book wishlist!

Preferably not too technical, more eye candy/coffee book/fun reads!

Here’s a few of mine:
Emerald: this is by Joanna Hardy aka one of the jewelry experts on the UK antiques roadshow. A full volume devoted to emeralds (famous pieces, as well as the mining process!). The photos are luscious. Out of print now but I managed to score a new copy on the second hand market. Christmas miracle!

My love affair with jewelry: a great coffee book on Elizabeth Taylor’s best baubles and the juicy tidbits behind them!

Imperial Easter eggs: The entire catalog of Faberge eggs with full page photographs.

Faberge Animals: A really darling volume on Queen Alexandra’s Faberge Miniature Animal Collection made of precious and semi-precious stones, and even the amounts she paid for each!

Hollywood jewels: Some of the most famous actresses of the last century and their baubles. Only criticism is that most of the photos are in black and white (understandable given the eras portrayed, but still, would love to see each jewel in color!)

Tiffany Windows: A very slim volume on the store’s famous display windows. I could not bring myself to buy the bigger version which costs $845 (vs the $30 I paid for this smaller version).
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Here’s my wishlist:

JAR: Oodles of baubles by the elusive Joel Rosenthal. Sadly this costs $1400 for the set of two, and second hand market isn’t much cheaper. Sigh.
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I’ve also had the pleasure of reading the following and here are my very personal and honest reviews regarding them:

Christies Archives: Fun to flip through the gossip and story behind some big name items auctioned off in the last century but ultimately most of these pieces are better photographed in other books (including Elizabeth Taylor’s!). Felt cursory.


20th century jewelry and the icons of style: pretty good. Again, would love more colored photos of the jewels themselves rather than black and whites.

150 years of Tiffany: this one didn’t do it for me. Felt like basically a big Tiffany catalog without much explanation behind the pieces save for a self-congratulatory introduction chapter.

Tiffany Flora and Fauna: found it a tad repetitive (aka lots and lots of butterfly pins)
 
Aside from my eyewitness Gems and Minerals books as a kid, this is the only bling related book. Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright. readmyPinsherp_075854ff-518c-45cd-beb4-020b44355757.jpgToo lazy to dig my copy out, took a photo from online.
 
Too lazy to photo.


I have antique jewelry reference books as well. But less visually appealing as compared to that.
 
@737lizakg Oooh, I love brooches! The quality of the color photographs look great. Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to check this volume out!

@elizat Thanks for sharing! I actually went to a special jewelry exhibit on her estate years ago and saw her pieces in person. They are absolutely astounding!
 
Some more I’ve read:

If these jewels could talk by Beth Bernstein: this one is like a rehash of some of the volumes already mentioned (my love affair with jewelry, Hollywood jewels, etc). Nothing super new on famous pieces of jewels and the women they adorned. But the writing style is fun.

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The queen’s diamonds: I found this one a tad boring because it didn’t have any colored stones obviously.
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Jewels of the duchess of Windsor: great volume! Epitomized jewelry as a love language between the king and Wallis. Lots of details behind each piece. I bought the Sotheby auction catalog version so it even came with an insert stating how much each piece sold for at auction. Gave this to my MIL for Christmas. This photo below I borrowed from google.
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Sorry, for some reason the photos to some of the above titles did not show. Here they are again:


Christies Archives: Fun to flip through the gossip and story behind some big name items auctioned off in the last century but ultimately most of these pieces are better photographed in other books (including Elizabeth Taylor’s!). Felt cursory.

D3C50EFE-C139-42C6-8777-BE2567B198CB.jpeg
20th century jewelry and the icons of style: pretty good. Again, would love more colored photos of the jewels themselves rather than black and whites.
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170 years of Tiffany: this one didn’t do it for me. Felt like basically a big Tiffany catalog without much explanation behind the pieces save for a self-congratulatory introduction chapter.
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Tiffany Flora and Fauna: found it a tad repetitive (aka lots and lots of butterfly pins)
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My friend is sending me this book for the holidays. I can’t wait to read it and discuss it with her.

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@737lizakg Oooh, I love brooches! The quality of the color photographs look great. Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to check this volume out!

@elizat Thanks for sharing! I actually went to a special jewelry exhibit on her estate years ago and saw her pieces in person. They are absolutely astounding!

They are. I visited as well a few years back. Beautiful property- and jewelry!
 
@missy Thanks for sharing—please let me know if you like it!
 

Thanks for sharing! Bvlgari is exquisite—anyone who was anyone in the 60s/70s had a large colored stone necklace from Bvlgari (Gina Lollobrigida, Elizabeth Taylor...)
 
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