Beautifully illustrated with historical images, famous jewellery and fashion photography, this is not just the 4,000-year-old story of the pearl but also a practical guide to collecting, buying and wearing pearls.

This is the 4,000-year-old history of the pearl, but also includes detailed practical information on collecting, buying and wearing pearls.

For its luminescent beauty and timeless elegance, the pearl has been prized for centuries, from ancient civilizations and royalty to society girls and Hollywood celebrities. Not only a symbol of wealth, status and power, this rare gem is a moon-like talisman associated with healing, protection and purity.Weaving myth and history, art and literature, the sacred and the secular, this book unfolds the fascinating 4,000-year-old story of the pearl, including tales of pearl-divers in the Pacific, the jewellery of ancient Rome and legendary pearls such as the 500-year-old La Peregrina and the 14-pound Pearl of Allah. Here you will learn of the various types of pearls, both cultured and costume styles, how to wear and care for them, as well as pearls in popular culture and in fashions through the ages.

Vorwort
This is the 4,000-year-old history of the pearl, but also includes detailed practical information on collecting, buying and wearing pearls.

Autorentext

Caroline Young is a writer and author specialising in fashion, pop culture and film history. Originally from Edinburgh, her works include Hitchcock's Heroines, What Coco Chanel Can Teach You About Fashion, The It Girls: Glamor, Celebrity and Scandal, and Welbeck's The Colour of Fashion, Audrey in Paris, and Little Book of Chloé. She lives in Edinburgh, UK.

Inhalt

Introduction - Ancient History - Natural and Cultured Pearls - Royal Gemstones - Legendary Pearls - Pearls in Fashion - Index.