An enjoyable read, dealing more with the effect of jewels on people and history than on the jewels themselves. If you only read one book on gemstones, ipreferred Victoria Finleys jewels, but this is a great companion piece to it ( )

Interesting topic apparently gave license for chat-like writing style and cavalier attitude to history's various crucial moments, on which scholars write tomes. On a plus side - just when you're about to get strabismus from never ending rolling of eyes - she presents another nugget of curious information ))

While the review indicates a 2018 read date, I originally read it once prior and I reread it every year.

I could've sworn I left a review here the first time I read this. Well, I finished reading it a second time and am now leaving a review.
What a delight it was, to come back to this book! I went on for paragraphs on my blog about how wonderful it was, the first time. I am interested in jewelry, stones, family heirlooms, and the history of such. Add in the psychology of -wanting-, and this book had me hooked on first read. I remember being a tad annoyed at what seemed like so many footnotes. On second read, I was prepared and while I read them all again, it didn't seem so many. The book opens with the author talking about her mom's jewelry closet, and I instantly blurted out, "I want a jewelry closet!" I hadn't even known entire closets could be filled until I read that. Psychology of wanting, indeed. My interest in sapphires and rubies blossomed thanks to this book, and I have big plans to buy jewelry someday. My adoration of emeralds goes without saying, or so I like to think. I am pointing it out now: emeralds are my favorite and I am so excited to someday start a whole collection. I was glad to learn so much about pearls, and realized I was still entirely uninterested in wearing or buying any. They have a fascinating history, though, and I added another 'reason to go to Japan' to my list I've had since I was eight. The chapter on watches really had me learning a lot. I got that they're jewelry, but--they just don't have such a pull for me. This book had me reconsidering that, and brought back wonderful memories of a lovingly purchased watch that lasted from my childhood to teen years. The clasp broke, it stopped working, and I was too fickle to have it fixed. My parents got it fixed and hid it from me until years later. (I would have whined and tried to give it to a consignment shop.) ( )

Fun, breezy, occasionally overreaches (as when it attempts to explain, in just one page, why communism will never work), but generally entertaining. ( )

this was a remarkably fun book! So much history in jewelry. ( )