JEWELRY, OBSESSION, AND HOW DESIRE SHAPES THE WORLD.
I’m not going to say that this book is a gem, but it is truly a treasure!
I had such a hard time putting it down that even my dogs seemed to wonder why I wasn’t asleep. Personally, I think the concept of this book is ingenious.
Aja Raden, aside from being someone you’d probably love to have in your circle of friends, Aja is a historian, a scientist, and a jeweler, who has brilliantly brought history to life by entwining the human obsession with status, an insider view of major world events, and the science that drives it all.
Her questions are thought provoking, such as what makes a stone a jewel, and what makes a jewel priceless? How was the Dutch purchase of Manhattan for thirteen glass beads not swindling the natives?
How are we so obsessed with beauty and perceived value, that tulips could topple the Dutch economy?
Did the pearl Phillip II send to his betrothed Mary Tudor, before he ever laid eyes on her, spark the animosity between Elizabeth I and Phillip II to the point that he sent an Armada to invade England, and how did the same pearl become Richard Burton’s valentine gift to Elizabeth Taylor?
Plus, could a diamond necklace really have been the catalyst that started the French Revolution and put Marie Antoinette’s head on a block?
It doesn’t end there….there is so much more that it makes my head spin… Who would have thought that Thomas Edison’s endorsement of Mikimoto’s cultured pearls was a true feather in the pearl maker’s cap, and that these pearls alone heavily influenced the Japanese economy.
And then, wristwatches…..who would have thought….., well, you will just have to read my new favorite book for yourselves.
The book has one flaw. Just one. That is that I desperately wanted to see photos of practically everything she mentioned, so I gave Google quite the work-out.
All I can say is, read it. If you don’t, you’ll miss out.
The agent representing this book is Stephen Barbara of Inkwell Management, and it was published by ECCO, which is an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.
PS. I forgot to tell you about the story about diamond engagement rings….., it’s not what you think….
I very much liked your review of ‘Stoned’. The lore and the lure of gemstones has always fascinated me. The tease that sets the hook though is your post script that includes, “diamond engagement rings….., it’s not what you think….” I will have to read Stoned to find the answer.
Thank you…
Thank you, Al! You will never look at a diamond the same way again…., but there is so much more in that book!
Hi Linda,
I was already hooked and it sounds like this book will set the hook deeper.