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The Natural History Museum Book of Gemstones
"Gemstones have been a source of fascination for Millenia, from the icy brilliance of diamond and the soft iridescence of pearl, to the deep red garnets treasured by ancient Egyptians and Victorians alike. They are used for their natural beauty in jewellery, worn for protection as talismans, associated with romance and power. They are also of scientific importance, forming over billions of years and containing secrets to the inner earth. This book examines the world's most commonly encountered gemstones, exploring their unique beauty, rarity, and durability. It reveals how these gem materials formed, where they are mined, how they are identified by their physical and optical properties, their enhancements and imitations. Travelling through each gem's history and use in adornment, it is filled with fascinating facts for the curious to the professional. With sumptuous colour photographs, Gemstones is a dazzling insight into the world of the rare and valuable"--Back cover.
Gems in the Early Modern World
This edited collection is an interdisciplinary study of gems in the early modern world. It examines the relations between the art, science, and technology of gems, and it does so against the backdrop of an expanding global trade in gems. The eleven chapters are organised into three parts. The first part sets the scene by describing how gems moved around the early modern world, how they were set in motion, and how they were pulled together in the course of their travels. The second part is about value. It asks why people valued gems, how they determined the value of a given gem, and how the value of a gem was connected to its perceived place of origin. The third part deals with the skills involved in cutting, polishing, and mounting gems, and how these skills were transmitted and articulated by artisans. The common themes of all these chapters are materials, knowledge and global trade. The contributors to this volume focus on the material properties of gems such as their weight and hardness, on the knowledge involved in exchanging them and valuing them, and on the cultural consequences of the expanding trade in gems in Eurasia and the Americas.
Hope Diamond
An entertaining and well-researched history of the Hope diamond Since its discovery in seventeenth-century India, the Hope diamond, a glimmering deep blue gem weighing over 45 carats, has been shrouded in mystery and steeped in intrigue. In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Richard Kurin goes beyond the speculation to reveal the truth behind a legendary stone. Kurin, a cultural anthropologist, spent more than a decade on the trail of the legendary gem. But the 'curse' that surrounds it, which Kurin puts to rest once and for all, is only one small piece of a long and lustrous story that moves between ancient religion and modern magic, royal power and class rivalry, revenge and greed. Richly illustrated, Hope Diamond works in a grand historical tradition: depicting the specific to reveal the universal.
Historical Encyclopaedia, entitled "Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems"
Reprint of the original, first published in 1841.
Antique Gems
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