Jewels: A Secret History

While I hoped for something different with this title, I had expected another dry and general overview of the trade. My expectations were wrong and my hope was fulfilled.For the composition of this book, the author has traveled to the “far corners of the Earth” to investigate the origins, processes, people and stories behind gemstones and their trade. She then relates this information to us in such a way that makes the reader feel as if you’re having a conversation with her over coffee. The prose flows so naturally that it is difficult to put down.The author is deeply committed to getting to the root of each story she presents., like an investigative journalist. The idea that one person could accomplish all of these travels deep into the remote and often restricted areas and come away with loads of details is astonishing.The fact is that after reading this book, one can never look casually at a a ruby, sapphire. pearl, a diamond, a piece of amber again without a flashback to something the author wrote about it.This book is a wonderful and entertaining journey which delivers insight into a trade that is little known to the average person. I highly recommend it and hope that others will too.

I learned quite a bit on this book, hope these is a second. It is worth the time and money if these are interesting to you. Fun writer.

Definitely one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read in 5e last two years. Educational, engrossing, and eye opening. I never want to ever receive a diamond again, and I’m not sure how I feel about pearls. Leaves the reader questioning why jewelry is ever valued at all, to be honest. But I love Victoria Findlayson as an author and can’t wait to see what her next research project will be. Maybe fruit? Candy? Fabric?

I loved this book! It provided interesting pieces of history wrapped up in the romance of jewels and human's obsession with them. I loved how each jewel was approached as a piece of history and placed into various spaces of time and attached to various famous people.I was disappointed by her chapter on diamonds. I felt that she focused too much on all the negatives, and I understand there are many, however, every thing of value has caused blood shed. I felt she tired to hard to sell the synthetics or lab created diamonds, even she had to admit diamonds from debeers have almost no chance of being blood diamonds because they have been selling from their own vaults for years, buying almost no new. While I agreed with many of her criticisms (over pricing for one, inflating the value, and the lack of a resale value) she broke the spell of the book with the final chapter being a blatant sales pitch trying to sway people one way or the other....which was a sad way to end an otherwise wonderful book.Other than my disappointment with the final chapter, I truly enjoyed her writing style. Her various person stories interwoven into the book, her own engagement ring and the sapphire from her parents, really added to the story for me. I would highly recommend this book to jewel lovers and history buffs alike, because jewels have long played a part in human history and have many interesting facts attached to them.

I'm not quite done yet, but I'm like halfway through the book, and it's certainly enough to give my opinion. If you liked 'Colour: Journeys through the Paintbox", you'll love this. If you haven't read that, give this a try. I absolutely adore Finlay's style; she has a keen eye for the unusual and intriguing about her subjects. I love this book and can tell I'll be reading it more than once in the years to come.Frankly, I try to provide some sort of constructive criticism or devil's advocate segment in all my reviews, to keep them balanced, but I don't really have that for this book. I mean, maybe the organization and order of the gems as they appear is a bit arbitrary, but that's about it. It goes into all sorts of fascinating details that even an avid fan of gemology probably wouldn't know about!

A well researched and written book on jewels--interesting to read how the gems are mined or found; lots of stories behind the jewels we treasure and the people who hunt for them. Good fun for the armchair adventurer to read about the authors exploits in the world's various mining operations--did she really want to go down into all those deep dark mines? Was it safe to go off with strangers to find those remote mines off in the jungle? Glad she did, because her tales, interviews, and observations were well worth the journey. Even though I still love jewelry, after reading about the often exploitive and dangerous means of extracting the various jewels from the earth or ocean, I'll never look at gems, (especially diamonds), the same again.

I enjoyed Finlay's "Color" and was looking forward to this book. It did not disappoint. In fact, I think it was better than "Color."The author works her way up the Moh's scale, from amber to diamonds, with the history, lore, legend, and science of gems. She also raises some interesting questions about manufactured gems and ethics without getting preachy or posturing.I can't imagine what this woman's passport must look like. She travels the globe talking to the powerful and not-so-powerful, managing to get them to tell her their stories and share their knowledge. She manages to talk people into letting her do the most insane things in the name of storytelling. I learned things I did not before know, and I was thoroughly entertained...and always glad that she was the one getting muddy, sweaty, vertigo, whatever. I can't wait to see what topic she'll take on next.

The writing is dull and there really isn't much of interest included, the information is pretty superficial.

A really well written book,part travelogue ,part encycleopedia of a few common jewels.I read her History of Colour which I highly recommend especially if you paint-cram packed with facts.I was fascinated by her chapters on Amber,Jet and Pearls which are my 3 favourites.

für Edelsteininteressierte ein absolutes Muss wer sich für Hintergründe interessiert. Fand das Buch sehr spannend und informativ. Spannende Anekdoten und historische Hintergründe sehr gut recherchiert.

Great book!!! Very easy and interesting to read: narrative well constructed and, if you like the history behind things, you'll definetely enjoy reading this book.

Such an interesting book! If you are interested in gemstones or history I strongly recommend getting this!

A wonderful combination of history, geography and scientific facts, plus personal comments by the authoress.