Ebook Jewels: A Secret History, by Victoria Finlay
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Jewels: A Secret History, by Victoria Finlay
Ebook Jewels: A Secret History, by Victoria Finlay
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From Publishers Weekly
Gems seem to be moving to the literary forefront, with The Hope Diamond out in May and The Heartless Stone: A Journey through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire due in August. In her follow-up to Color, Finlay looks at diamonds and eight more of the world's most coveted gemstones. In each chapter, she discusses the jewel's history and travels to the stone's place of origin: abandoned emerald mines in Egypt, working opal mines in Australia, a pearl-fisher's home in Scotland and an Apache reservation that holds most of the world's supply of peridot. Finlay is also fascinated by the lengths to which people will go to fabricate jewels: one company manufactures diamonds from cremated human remains. While each journey holds its own charms—Finlay's trek to Sri Lanka to uncover the pedigree of a family heirloom sapphire is particularly enjoyable—they don't fully gel into a cohesive whole, and detailed stories about, say, the way one Japanese entrepreneur transformed the world's pearl market are juxtaposed with historical trivia. Still, Finlay's winning personality may well be enough to keep readers turning the pages. 8 pages of color and b&w illus. throughout. (Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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From Booklist
Inspired by the engagement ring she'd received from her fiance, Finlay set off on a journey that literally took her around the world intent on uncovering the history behind some of the planet's most valuable gems. Her investigation of amber takes her to a much--diminished mining town in Russia, where Stalin once had a gulag full of people to work the mines. Finlay visits with former pearl fishers in Scotland who used to search the rivers for mussels before they became endangered. In Egypt she discovers the truth about Cleopatra's legendary emerald mines, while in Burma she goes on a more personal journey to trace the roots of a sapphire her father bought for her mother. She lays out the myth of the supposedly cursed Hope diamond before debunking it as a tall tale made up by Pierre Cartier to make a sale. Part personal journey, part historical anecdote, this rich, comprehensive book will no doubt appeal to jewelry lovers curious about the story behind the sparkle. Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Product details
Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (August 15, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345466942
ISBN-13: 978-0345466945
Product Dimensions:
5.8 x 1.6 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
66 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#699,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
I'm not quite done yet, but I'm like halfway through the book, and it's certainly enough to give my opinion. If you liked 'Colour: Journeys through the Paintbox", you'll love this. If you haven't read that, give this a try. I absolutely adore Finlay's style; she has a keen eye for the unusual and intriguing about her subjects. I love this book and can tell I'll be reading it more than once in the years to come.Frankly, I try to provide some sort of constructive criticism or devil's advocate segment in all my reviews, to keep them balanced, but I don't really have that for this book. I mean, maybe the organization and order of the gems as they appear is a bit arbitrary, but that's about it. It goes into all sorts of fascinating details that even an avid fan of gemology probably wouldn't know about!
I enjoy this kind of book. It's part science, part travelog, and part history. Finlay starts by telling the story of her unique engagement ring (I won't spoil the story, read the book!), then goes on to discuss the types of gems humans have valued over time. Finlay focuses mostly on the production of the jewels, never failing to visit the modern locations where things like rubies and sapphires are produced. However, she does tell the story of how jewels were made. In particular, she tells how platinum changed how we use rings in our jewelry. If you liked her book on colors, you will also like this.
A well researched and written book on jewels--interesting to read how the gems are mined or found; lots of stories behind the jewels we treasure and the people who hunt for them. Good fun for the armchair adventurer to read about the authors exploits in the world's various mining operations--did she really want to go down into all those deep dark mines? Was it safe to go off with strangers to find those remote mines off in the jungle? Glad she did, because her tales, interviews, and observations were well worth the journey. Even though I still love jewelry, after reading about the often exploitive and dangerous means of extracting the various jewels from the earth or ocean, I'll never look at gems, (especially diamonds), the same again.
Definitely one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read in 5e last two years. Educational, engrossing, and eye opening. I never want to ever receive a diamond again, and I’m not sure how I feel about pearls. Leaves the reader questioning why jewelry is ever valued at all, to be honest. But I love Victoria Findlayson as an author and can’t wait to see what her next research project will be. Maybe fruit? Candy? Fabric?
"Throughout Asia and Europe, pearls were traditionally believed to ease a range of conditions, including eye diseases, fever, insomnia, 'female complaints', dysentery, whooping cough, measles, loss of virility, and bed-wetting ... Though nobody seems to advertise the potential for pearls to cure bed-wetting anymore." - Victoria Finlay in JEWELSJEWELS is one of those delicious volumes you read for the pure pleasure of acquiring esoteric knowledge that has no practical, everyday use. Similar books I've read that come to mind include Salt: A World History,PURE KETCHUP PB,Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey--The Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World, and Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries. If someone has penned a narrative entitled WIRE COAT HANGERS, I'd read that too if the subject was made interesting. (There isn't; I checked.)Author Finlay's approach is to discuss nine gemstones, three "organic" and six mineral, in the order of their position on Mohs' Scale of Relative Hardness. They are, listed by increasing hardness: amber, jet, pearl, opal, peridot, emerald, sapphire, ruby, and diamond. (On Mohs' scale, talc occupies position #1, i.e. the softest. My wife treasures her pressed talc engagement ring.)Finlay, a social anthropologist turned journalist, is no desk-bound researcher. To write JEWELS, the story of the various gems' sources and evolution in societal value systems, she traveled the world: Kaliningrad Oblast (Russian Federation), northern England, Japan, Australia, Arizona, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and, perhaps the hardest to access, Antwerp's Diamond Club. The book begins with European, Asian, Japanese, and Australian "treasure" maps. Indeed, on asking what to look out for prior to visiting the remote site of Cleopatra's emerald mines in Egypt's desolate interior mountains, she was told, "Scorpions."JEWELS contains an 8-page section of color photos as well as a liberal sprinkling of black and white snaps and illustrations. Oddly, it's the color section that comes up short, a fact which compels me to award 4 stars to what would otherwise be a five-star effort. Only examples of amber, pearl, opal, and diamond are pictured. There is no display of jet, peridot, emerald, sapphire, or ruby; I, an ignoramus when it comes to the topic, had to resort to the Internet. And there are no photos of two of the largest and most famous diamonds of history specifically mentioned in the text: the Cullinan(s) and the Golden Jubilee. Moreover, the Hope Diamond is given visual short-shrift considering its fame.JEWELS concludes with a 19-page, perhaps useful "Miscellany of Jewels", which includes a glossary of terms, color scale and clarity terms for diamonds, a listing of American state gemstones, popular vs. mineral names for gemstones, Mohs' Scale, and a listing of birthstones. "Miscellany" is certainly the operative term.Victoria's narrative is instructive and entertaining from start to finish. Except for the deficiency mentioned, one could hardly ask for more.
I enjoyed Finlay's "Color" and was looking forward to this book. It did not disappoint. In fact, I think it was better than "Color."The author works her way up the Moh's scale, from amber to diamonds, with the history, lore, legend, and science of gems. She also raises some interesting questions about manufactured gems and ethics without getting preachy or posturing.I can't imagine what this woman's passport must look like. She travels the globe talking to the powerful and not-so-powerful, managing to get them to tell her their stories and share their knowledge. She manages to talk people into letting her do the most insane things in the name of storytelling. I learned things I did not before know, and I was thoroughly entertained...and always glad that she was the one getting muddy, sweaty, vertigo, whatever. I can't wait to see what topic she'll take on next.
This book caught me by surprise. I was expecting a dry tome on gems. This was a fascinating walk through the history, geography and stories of the major stones we like to wear. Easy to read and understand for a layman. Be sure to tap the little blue numbers as there is a lot of fascinating info hidden there also. This author really knows her stuff and, more importantly, knows how to tell a good story! Very highly recommend!!!
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