20th Century Jewelry & the Icons of Style
Consider this fabulous and lush photo-filled book an early holiday gift for those who have more than just a fleeting curiosity in “haute joallier” and life as it once was in the heyday of grande dames and “teddibly propah” high society.
20th Century Jewelry and the Icons of Style serves as a visual inventory of some of the most incredible pieces of jewelry, making it difficult to pinpoint one defining facet—pun intended!—that would stand out as most appealing as there are so many contenders.
On an educational or enlightening level, the book explores the habits of these extraordinary women as well the importance that these jewels played in their overall trajectory into society, making us keenly aware that some of these ladies possessed seemingly bottomless resources to aid them in the acquisition and growth of their personal collections. Then there are those who married into prosperity and carried off their new roles with great style and élan. Both categories shared one great overriding love: jewelry.
Sonja Henie, of skating fame, once said that “jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles.” There is no question that these women may not have been classic beauties, but what they lacked in physical attributes or sartorial savvy, they more than made up for when it came to their taste in wildly extravagant and / or tasteful pieces of fine jewelry and gemstones.
What is immensely evident was that these ladies actually wore their jewelry and cared for it in ways unheard of today. It was quite in vogue during their lives to re-fashion and re-design pieces of jewelry so as to avoid looking dated. Then, their jewelers of choice were predominantly French, mainly Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpel. And when it came to new purchases these jewelers were depended on to to provide both the highest quality jewels and the most acutely talented workmanship. And in fact, yes, size did matter, as apparently these jewelers belonged to the bigger is better school for the carat count of some of these works of art is nothing short of staggering.
20th Century Jewelry and the Icons of Style will be a conversation piece on any coffee table not to mention a great source of insight in any library. The book affords a crash course in the lives of these 11 memorable, wealthy women and just how they came to be icons of style in this genre.