John Donald, a British jeweller, designer and goldsmith, is regarded as one of the most innovative of the twentieth century. In over half a century he has been recognised as a pioneering and radical designer and craftsman with his work capturing the late twentieth century ideals of glamour and modernity. Part of a select group that revolutionised jewellery design in the 1960s and '70s, John went on to establish a successful business in London and Geneva as well as an international reputation. He is respected by art critics and his work attracted the patronage of HRH The late Princess Margaret, Countess ofSnowdon and Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.His work is seen in the collections of the V&A Museum, the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim, The Royal Museum in Edinburgh and The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. His pieces are owned by various Royal Families as well as headsof industry and those fascinated by design.

The spectacular hoards of late antique silver - Mildenhall, Thetford, Sevso - discovered since the middle of the last century have aroused much interest in this luxury art form. But what did these pieces mean to their owners, and why was silverware so important in late antiquity? Silver and Society in Late Antiquity examines such questions through an integrated, synthetic analysis of the history of silver in the Roman empire between 300 and 650 AD, focusing upon the cultural significance of this luxury art form in all its different manifestations--sacred, imperial and domestic. Ruth Leader-Newby looks at a wide range of objects from both the eastern and western halves of the Roman empire - including Britain - in order to determine silver's role in the wider sphere of late antique visual culture, asking questions about the relative significance of individual forms of artistic production, and their relationship with each other. In doing so, key issues for the artistic and cultural history of late antiquity are raised - the use of the imperial image, the visual construction of the sacred in Christianity, the cohesive social role of elite intellectual culture, and the Christianization of the domestic sphere. As this book demonstrates, when studied in its historical context, silver can substantially enrich our understanding of late Roman art and culture.

For many women of Egypt, their jewelry is their bank-they wear their wealth in their gold. But jewelry in Egypt is also more than mere assets, and its design and manufacture reveal a great array of styles and a high degree of skill and artistry. In this lavishly illustrated book, Azza Fahmy, herself a world-renowned designer of jewelry based on traditional motifs, lays before us an Aladdin's cave of jewelry made in all corners of Egypt over the last one hundred years, collected through her extensive travels throughout the country. From the farms and villages of the Nile Valley and Delta, from the oases of the Western Desert and the mountains and wadis of Sinai and the Eastern Desert, from Nubia in the south, and from the crowded traditional neighborhoods of Cairo is displayed a cornucopia of gold and silver adornment-each area with its own distinctive favored style. Personal seals have been widely employed, and there is even jewelry for special occasions, such as the appeasement of malignant spirits, and for animals.In this completely redesigned edition of her bestselling book, in a new and elegant format, the author not only documents all these varieties and illustrates them with the finest examples, she also describes the techniques and skills involved in their production and the materials used, and recounts her own journey of learning as she apprenticed with the leading master jewelers to become the best known jeweler in Egypt, whose work is worn by world leaders, royalty, and connoisseurs of jewelry around the globe.

'Jewellery in all its guises has been a signifier of glamour in the pages of Vogue since the magazine's inception in 1916...the jewellery always commands the image - infinitely powerful and desirable, inventive and extraordinary.' - Alexandra Shulman 'This book sparkles with glamour and flamboyance.' - Daily Mail 'From simple strings of gleaming pearls to showstopping tiaras, this book is perfect for anyone with a true love of jewels.' - Conde Nast Traveller Illustrated with fabulous images from Vogue's archive, Vogue: The Jewellery is the ultimate book for fashion and jewellery lovers. From couture to costume jewellery, the brilliant pieces featured on the pages of British Vogue for more than a century have encapsulated the fashion zeitgeist of each new age for which they were created. Adorning princesses and rock chicks alike, the jewels shown in Vogue: The Jewellery reveal a dazzling array of styles and moods - from fairytale romance to Jazz-age glamour, sculptural modernism to timeless elegance. On every page sumptuous jewellery is the star of the show, nourishing dreams in us all. Carol Woolton has curated a collection of more than 300 fabulous images within five thematic chapters: Show-stoppers, Rock Chick, Minimalist, Exotic and Classic. From diamond-encrusted tiaras and intricate jet chokers to sculptural silver cuffs and simple strings of pearls, the book provides an evocative celebration of a century of jewellery, while showcasing British Vogue's best photographers including Norman Parkinson, David Bailey, Arthur Elgort, Corinne Day, Cecil Beaton and Tim Walker. Now available in a new format with a luxurious real cloth cover, at a more pocket-friendly price of GBP30, this is essential reading for fashionistas everywhere.

The first comprehensive and authoritative history of the Koh-i-Noor, arguably the most celebrated and mythologised jewel in the world. On 29 March 1849, the ten-year-old maharaja of the Punjab was ushered into the magnificent Mirrored Hall at the centre of the great fort in Lahore. There, in a public ceremony, the frightened but dignified child handed over great swathes of the richest country in India in a formal Act of Submission to a private corporation, the East India Company. He was also compelled to hand over to the British monarch, Queen Victoria, perhaps the single most valuable object on the subcontinent: the celebrated Koh-i Noor diamond. The Mountain of Light. The history of the Koh-i-Noor that was then commissioned by the British may have been one woven together from gossip of Delhi bazaars, but it was to become the accepted version. Only now is it finally challenged, freeing the diamond from the fog of mythology that has clung to it for so long. The resulting history is one of greed, murder, torture, colonialism and appropriation told through an impressive slice of south and central Asian history. It ends with the jewel in its current controversial setting: in the crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Masterly, powerful and erudite, this is history at its most compelling and invigorating.

For more than a century, Rolex has stood apart as the most legendary brand of watch in the world. A Rolex conveys many things: a luxury timepiece, a tool of power for movers and shakers and the symbol of passage into adulthood. New labels pop up, styles come and go, but the brand at the top never changes. Ever the record setter-the Daytona that had belonged to Paul Newman was auctioned by Phillips in New York in October 2017 for $17.8 million- it comes as no surprise that Rolex is the most collected watch brand in the world. The Vintage Watch Company is the only store of its kind in the world, with a devoted client base of devoted Rolex aficionados, from royalty to sporting legends to stars of the silver screen. Throughout, father and son, John and David Silver have been carefully cataloguing and amassing one of the largest pictorial records of vintage Rolex watches in the world. Published to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary in late 2020, the book contains a unique pictorial collection of vintage Rolex watches that have passed through the shop during the past 25 years. More than 1800 watches have been photographed and are described in detail in the book. From early Rolex pocket watches to the world's first wristwatches, elegant in their simplicity yet revolutionary in their impact, to the very first Submariners, iconic Daytonas and jewel-encrusted Crown Collections, the mesmerizing archive of vintage timepieces charts the extraordinary rise of an extraordinary brand. Choose from the First Rolex Submariner, later coined the James Bond, or the Early GMT-Master made for Pan Am transatlantic pilots. Read about the First Explorers made famous by the 1953 Everest Expedition or the later Explorer II worn by Steve McQueen. Marvel at Early Vintage collections, from the Officer's Pocket Watch to the Ladies' Diamond; from the Oyster and the Stella & Stone collections, to the Sport Collection. This book is a perfect gift for all lovers of luxury retail as well as passionate collectors of Rolex watches who will want to read about the models they own.

Jorunn Veiteberg has been wearing jewellery with a passion ever since she was a teenager. Covering nearly 50 years, her collection contains some 550 items, including work by 210 jewellery artists from 30 different countries, some by unknown craftspeople, some even mass-produced. Conventional forms live side by side with experimental objects, and political statements mingle with humorous asides. It is this collection that makes up The Jewellery Box. The book deals with how Veiteberg became a collector, why she focused on art jewellery, and what it can do for us. It's a personal story, but at the same time the volume is a contribution to the recent history of crafts, one that expands our understanding of jewellery.

Diamonds tell stories that are captivating and timeless. On the one hand, they are just stones, pieces of pure carbon with optical properties that make them glitter and sparkle like stars. On the other, they are mystical entities hypnotically drawing the viewer into a time machine as it were, wherein a cinematic montage of their journey unfolds. Diamonds Across Time presents a sweeping overview of diamonds across time and space, featuring ten essays by world-renowned scholars in love the stone. Here, these authors present new discoveries; explore extraordinary collections; investigate histories, science, and trade; the nature of diamonds; legendary gems, jewellery collections, and great designers. Above all, they tell the human stories that underpin the adoration of diamonds. Diamonds Across Time is a richly illustrated publication with high-quality images of gems and jewels, archival documents, rare drawings, and fabulous photographs. The volume places diamonds in the context of the time in which they were discovered, and on the political, social, and cultural stage on which their histories were etched. In a rapidly changing world, diamonds are eternal. They were created by nature and grew in the womb of the earth. They tell stories, and they record history. With this book, diamonds will finally have their own storytellers. The book was compiled and edited by the World Diamond Museum's chief curator and world-renowned jewellery expert Dr. Usha R Balakrishnan. She and nine other distinguished authors wrote ten monographs written in the order in appearance: Introduction; The Nizam Diamond: Bala Koh-i-Noor, in the Sacred Trust of the Nizam of Hyderabad - Usha R. Balakrishnan; Diamonds of the French Crown Jewels: Between East and West - Francois Farges; A Concise History of Diamonds from Borneo - Derek J. Content; Indian Diamonds and the Portuguese Duriing the Rise of the Mughal Empire - Hugo Miguel Crespo; Two Large Diamonds from India - Jack Ogden The Romanov Diamonds: History of Splendour - Stefano Papi; The Londonderry Jewels, 1819-1959 - Diana Scarisbrick; Dress to Impress in Southeast Asia - Rene Brus; Powerful Women, Important Diamonds - Ruth Peltason; One in Ten Thousand: The Unique World of Coloured Diamonds - John M. King.

From the author of Women from the Ankle Down comes a lively cultural biography of diamonds, which explores our society's obsession with the world's most brilliant gemstone and the real-world characters who make them shine. "A diamond is forever." Who among us doesn't recognize this phrase and, with it, the fascination that these shiny gemstones hold in our collective imagination as symbols of royalty, stars, and eternal love? But who gave us this catchphrase? Where do these gemstones and their colorful legacies originate? How did they become our culture's symbol of engagement and marriage? Why have they retained their coveted status throughout the centuries? Rachelle Bergstein's cultural biography of the diamond illuminates the enticing, often surprising story of our society's enduring obsession with the hardest gemstone-and the people who have worked tirelessly to ensure its continued allure. From the South African mines where most diamonds have been sourced since the late 1890s to the companies who have fought to monopolize them; from the stars who have dazzled in them to the people behind the scenes who have carefully crafted our understanding of their value-Brilliance and Fire offers a glittering history of the world's most coveted gemstone and its greatest champions and most colorful enthusiasts. Brilliance and Fire is illustrated with 16 pages of color photographs.

This exhibition catalogue for a show at the Neue Sammlung (Design Museum) in Munich documents the first solo show by Swiss jewellery artist Therese Hilbert, former student of Max Froehlich in Zurich and Hermann Ju nger in Munich. It features 250 works, going back 50 years and beginning with her earliest, unknown pieces through to her newest work created in 2020. One of her life-long passions is volcanoes: she has climbed many of them and has used them as a theme in her jewellery design for many years. The sense of heat below the surface of her minimalist designs underlines her passion for the subject. Her work is in the collections of the Design Museum (Munich), the National Gallery of Victoria, the Dallas Museum of Art, and Museum of Arts and Design (New York). Features texts by Heike Endter, Otto Kunzli, Ellen Maurer-Zilioli, Pravu Mazumdar, Angelika Nollert, Warwick Freeman and Petra Hoelscher. Text in English and German.

Costume jewellery is commonly understood to mean fashionable yet affordable adornments made from non-precious material. Originating in in mid-1700s France with the rise of the bourgeoise, the earliest 'costume jewellery' mimicked fine jewellery styles. Since then, costume jewellery has always been evolving. From Victorian sentimentalism to the mass-produced ornaments available today, costume jewellery has developed into an artform in its own right. An encyclopaedic study of its history is long overdue. Flush with expert information, identification tips and historical anecdotes, Adorning Fashion explores the development of costume jewellery across the past four centuries. The styles of each era - Victorian, Edwardian, Arts & Crafts, Jugenstil, Art Nouveau, and each decade of the twentieth century - are given individual attention. Production methods are also explained in depth. Alloys and gilded electroplating can mimic silver and gold, while the refraction index of treated glass can, to the untrained eye, be mistaken for diamond. Adorning Fashion discusses the contributions of a remarkable roster of designers and innovators, including Kokichi Mikimoto, Arthur L. Liberty, Carlo Giuliano, Rene Lalique, Elizabeth Bonte, the Castellani brothers, Jean Fouquet, Jean Despres, Fulco di Verdura, Jean Schlumberger, Salvador Dali, Miriam Haskell, Lina Baretti, Countess Cissy Zoltowska, Line Vautrin, Kenneth Jay Lane, Francisco Rebajes, Diane Love, Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels, Paco Rabanne, Yves Saint Laurent, Napier, Haskell, Trifari, Brania, Bulgari, Versace and more.

This comprehensive guide fills a critical void in the available literature regarding ancient finger rings comprised of base metals and low grade silver alloy. Increasingly, these modest relics of times past are being unearthed and sold through a growing assortment of worldwide venues. Unfortunately, the accompanying descriptions are often inaccurate and unreliable in the extreme. To date, the available reference material for researchers and collectors has been almost entirely restricted to the historic and "high end" pieces of the past, i.e., the gold and precious stones of royalty and the very wealthy. The public has had next to nothing with which to evaluate these common rings. This guide not only examines the physical structure of these pieces, but also the images and symbols which are such important elements of these ancient artifacts. As such, this book is an invaluable guide not only for merchants and collectors, but also researchers, students and educators regarding the types of ancient rings so conspicuously missing in the available literature.

An expert guide to the history and the role of hei tiki, a beloved and much prized Maori artform. Of all Maori personal adornments, the human figure pendants known as hei tiki are the most famous, highly prized and culturally iconic. This book examines and celebrates the long history of hei tiki and the enduring cultural potency of these taonga or cultural treasures. This first book on hei tiki for 60 years is written by the Acting Senior Curator Matauranga Maori at Te Papa, who is a hei tiki expert, and includes a large selection of hei tiki, most from the taonga Maori collections of Te Papa, which is the largest in New Zealand and very likely the world. Many are published here for the first time, including some with exalted histories of ownership. It also covers the work of leading contemporary hei tiki makers.

"...Modern British Jewellery Designers 1960-1980: A Collector's Guide, is an ode to an extraordinary period in British jewelry history."- Phyllis Schiller, Rapaport "This book, in my opinion, fills a significant gap in the literature providing a good starting point for anyone thinking of collecting jewellery from the 1960s and 1970s, and for anyone interested in jewellery from that era." -Elizabeth Passmore, Scottish Gemmological Association n the 1960s, British jewellery underwent a revolution. Natural, uncut stones exploded into vogue and a 1961 exhibition at the Goldsmith's Hall kickstarted the nation's new obsession with gold. The women who shopped at Quant's Bazaar and Hulaniki's Biba no longer just received jewellery as gifts. They placed their own orders, exploring Grima's drizzled gold and Flockinger's fused metallic experimentations; John Donald's textured gold cubes and the House of Munsteiner's curious new gem cuts. This was an era of innovation - captured here through insights into the work of 25 major jewellers and sumptuous pictures of their work. This book introduces the most influential British designers, jewellers, goldsmiths and silversmiths of 1960-1980. Tracing the evolution of style across these decades, Modern British Jewellery Designers reveals the designers' inspirations and the identifying signatures of their work. Accompanied by new photography showing each designer's creations, this is the perfect introduction for anyone with an interest in collecting, or learning more about this transformative period in British jewellery design.

Originally published in 1949, this book contains a catalogue of the Islamic metalwork that was in the collection of the British Museum at the time of publication. The text is accompanied by a number of photographic reproductions of key pieces and line drawings of some of the intricate designs featured on the artefacts. Basil Gray, in the introduction, argues that 'metalwork provides the most continuous and best-documented material for the history of Islamic art', and as a record of one of the country's most important collections of such art this book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Islamic art.

In addition to his medical practice, lecturing and teaching at the London Hospital, and his publishing of several medical works, the Irish physician Archibald Billing (1791 1881) was also an amateur artist and antiquarian. This illustrated book on gemmology was first published in 1867. Beginning with the works of ancient Greece, for him the highest pinnacle of civilization, Billing discusses the use of engraved gems, putting cameos and intaglios in the context of contemporary monumental sculpture, and tracing the history of carving in miniature back to the seal-stones of the Egyptians and Assyrians. He also considers the types and qualities of mineral used in making jewellery, from semi-precious pebbles through to diamonds, and he describes the techniques of cutting precious stones. The work concludes with a translation of the autobiography of the Italian engraver Benedetto Pistrucci (1784 1855), who became chief medallist at the Royal Mint."

Silver is an exciting and versatile material for jewellery makers, both beginners and the more advanced, and nothing beats the satisfaction of creating and making your own designs. This book shows you how. Full of inspiring ideas and finished pieces, it explains over forty processes including the more advanced techniques such as fold forming and keum-boo and encourages the reader to experiment with their own designs. Further topics include step-by-step explanations with bench tips from the author's own experience; advice on the jewellery process, including how to gather inspiration for designs and considerations for making wearable jewellery. Finally, there is a chapter dedicated to the surface finishing and polishing of silver to give your designs a professional finish.

Originally published in 1933, this book presents a detailed description of the collections of silver, portraits and other paintings at King's College, Cambridge. A list of the early donors of silver is also provided. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in King's College and its collections.

Having learned about geometry, perspective and representation of materials in the first volume, this second book in this two-part series delves deeper into the process of designing jewelry, from the first sketch to the final representation, with special emphasis on how to work on ideas, plan a collection, and design and depict a wide variety of pieces, taking the inspiration from natural forms or art history. The fundamentals of drawing different pieces, such as necklaces, rings, earrings, and bracelets, are carefully explained and illustrated in the book, which includes all the technical details to be taken into consideration when planning a jewelry piece, from the executive point of view. While the first volume focused on the tools needed to be able to accurately convey ideas, draw different materials, facets and effects, and master the use of color, this publication tackles the process from the initial idea, based in natural or geometrical forms, to the final drawing of the completed piece, including illustration techniques and sources of inspiration, all aspects that will stir up the reader's creativity. It is the ultimate tool and resource for jewelry students and professionals, and even illustrators in search of professional guidelines in freehand drawing and painting techniques when representing jewelry.

Polishing and finishing is a highly skilled specialist craft; a professional finish will transform a piece of jewellery or silver into a work of art. Written by a leading polisher, this practical book explains the traditional techniques and shares the secrets of this often under-rated craft. Topics covered include: setting up a workshop, tools and compounds; finishing methods including satin finish and oxidizing; polishing bangles, rings and cutlery and there are finished photographs showcasing a range of exquisite work.

Paul Newman wore his Daytona Rolex every single day for 35 years until his death in 2008. The iconic timepiece, probably the single most sought-after watch in the world, is now in the possession of his daughter Clea, who wears it every day in his memory. Franklin Roosevelt wore an elegant gold Tiffany watch, gifted to him by a friend on his birthday, to the famous Yalta Conference where he shook the hands of Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill. JFK's Omega worn to his presidential inauguration, Ralph Lauren's watch purchased from Andy Warhol's personal collection, Sir Edmund Hillary's Rolex worn during the first-ever summit of Mt. Everest...these and many more compose the stories of the world's most coveted watches captured in A Man and His Watch. Matthew Hranek, a watch collector and NYC men's style fixture, has travelled the world conducting firsthand interviews and diving into exclusive collections to gather the never-before- told stories of 76 watches, complete with stunning original photography of every single piece.

Why has jewellery and body adornment often been marginalized in studies of modernist art and design? This study explores the relationship between jewellery, modernism and modernity from the 'jazz age' to the second world war in order to challenge the view that these portable art forms have only a minor role to play in histories of modernism. From the masterworks of the Parisian jewellery houses to the film and photography of Man Ray, this study seeks to present jewellery in a new light, where issues of representation and display are considered to be as important in the creation of a modern 'jewellery culture' as the objects themselves. Drawing on material from museums, archives, contemporary journals, memoirs, literary and theoretical texts, this study shows how the emergence of modern jewellery began to seriously question conventional notions of body adornment.

This is the story of Faberge's Imperial Easter eggs - of their maker, of the tsars who commissioned them, of the middlemen who sold them and of the collectors who fell in love with them. It's a story of meticulous craftsmanship and unimaginable wealth, of lucky escapes and mysterious disappearances, and ultimately of greed, tragedy and devotion. Moreover, it is a story that mirrors the history of twentieth-century Russia - a satisfying arc that sees eggs made for the tsars, sold by Stalin, bought by Americans and now, finally, returned to post-communist Russia. There is also an intriguing element of mystery surrounding the masterpieces. Of the fifty 'Tsar Imperial' eggs known to have been made, eight are currently unaccounted for, providing endless scope for speculation and forgeries. This is the first book to tell the complete history of the eggs, encompassing the love and opulence in which they were conceived, the war and revolution that scattered them, and the collectors who preserved them.