precious

Who doesn’t love a little sparkle? You’ll find plenty in this gorgeous book. Along with histories of important jewelers from the late-19th through the 20th centuries, it features photographs of masterworks created by these artists and craftspeople. The book also highlights a number of specific jewelry styles, such as Art Nouveau by Lalique and Egyptian revival by Cartier. Other jewelers presented in the book include Tiffany, Van Cleef & Arpels, Fabergé, and Bulgari—with illustrations of their dazzling pieces crafted from gold, silver, platinum, gems, pearls, and enamel.

This is an illustrated catalogue of the Russian crown jewels, published by the Soviet Union’s People’s Commissariat of Finance, after the Russian Revolution removed the Tsar and his family from the throne. It is believed to be the only complete record of the Romanov dynasty’s treasures before their dispersal through private sale and a subsequent auction. The work was published as a limited-edition portfolio consisting of 100 photographic plates (often life-sized) and four sections of text, with only a dozen copies currently known in North America.

Author John Mawe, a dealer and expert in gems and minerals, was the first to reveal the full range of Brazil’s mineral wealth, which the Portuguese government kept closed to Europeans. Briefly detained as a spy in Montevideo, he reached Brazil and was given access to the inland mining districts, including Minas Geraes. There he recorded the localities, processes, and tools of the industry, along with a great deal of general information about the land and people of Brazil. His book was a bestseller, ultimately published in many editions and translations.

Georges Braque was a major 20th-century French painter, sculptor, draughtsman, and printmaker. At the age of 79, Braque turned his attention to jewelry. He teamed up with master jeweler Baron Heger de Löwenfeld to turn 110 gouache maquettes into intricately textured gold sculptures inlaid with precious stones. The collection, inspired by Greek mythology, incorporates themes of flight and metamorphosis. The two artists worked so closely together that Braque referred to De Löwenfeld as the “continuation of my hand.”

“It just seemed like a natural and harmless thing to do at the time” states author Bob Jones regarding the formation of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society in 1946. The ‘rockhounds’ who formed the group could not have anticipated that their organization would go on to create the world’s largest and most renowned gem and mineral show, frequented by scientists and scholars, dealers and vendors, artists and jewelers, and students and families alike.