Attention all New York fashionistas and jewelry lovers alike: If the sudden surge of summer heat is melting your lash glue and causing your make-up to run, head on over to a nicely air conditioned Barnes and Noble -or the NY Public LIbrary - and check out the book "Vintage Jewelry Design : Classics To Collect and Wear" by Caroline Cox ( Lark Crafts, April 2011) .
Written by the virtual professor of fashionista (no kidding, she really is!) this is a coffee table book to beat all coffee table books! Featuring a glorious100 year history of jewelry fashion and style dating from Victorian times to the present, it is a virtual whirlwind of fashion expertise you just can't find any in any magazine.
In addition to the hundreds of dazzling full color photos (some extremely rare) the book is also filled with the most fascinating jewelry facts you'll ever read. This includes not just design tips from some of the major jewelry creators of our time, but also juicy (dare we say close to scandlous) revelations about some of New Yorks Fifth Avenue's most fascinating jewelers - including Tiffany, Cartier, Boucheron, even Harry Winston.
What kind of revelations you ask? Well for starters, did you know that the diamond engagement ring became America's classic way to say "I Love You" only after the diamond industry cut a deal with Warner Brothers Studios? It's true!
A diamond is forever ...in Hollywood
According to Cox, following the Great Depression of the 1930's many of the top selling diamond merchants realized that the tradtiional customers for these high priced gems were in, shall we say, a bit of a financial slump?
To help save the diamond market the International Diamond Merchants first went to Coco Chanel and begged her to turn her formidable fashion jewerly design skills (and popularity with the masses) from faux gemstones to real ones. But when that idea flopped - no one could afford to buy what she made - the diamond merchants got the idea to bring in the calvary. The Hollywood calvary that is!
Indeed, major diamond dealers like DeBeers turned to Warner Brothers and cut a deal that would feature all the major fashionistas of the time - glamour dolls like Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo and Marlena Dietrich to name a few - in movies and movie magazines dripping in dazzling diamond jewelry.
But it didn't stop here! According to Cox, the diamond gurus also persuaded screen writers to inject scenes into movies where diamonds were given as a token of romance, signifying a man's emotional as well as financial investment in love. And voila, the rest as they say is sparkling motion picture history.
Indeed, Cox reports that by 1941 the sale of diamonds went up by 55 percent, and by the following year, 80 percent of all American women were celebrating their engagement with a diamond solitare, just like in the movies!
The fascination of jewelry design
But this is just one of dozens of fascinating stories about the gems and jewels we love - and the jewelers who created them. Broken down decade by decade (beginning in the 1900's, and going to the present) Cox leaves no gemstone unturned in her quest to fascinate, amuse and amaze us with stories and photos that will delight jewelry lovers of all ages.
In fact, the photos alone are like a retrospective of style that you might be surprised to discover has repeated itself more times than you might think!
The suggested retail price of the 200 plus page large format full color VIntage Jewelry Design book is a hefty $35.00. But you can snag yourself a copy for under twenty bucks at your local Barnes and Noble (Clic to find the store nearest you) Or visit the NY Public Library and check it out for free. Either way, if you love jewelry and you're crazy about fashion design , don't miss this - it's a lesson in style you will never forget!
Colette Bouchez is the style director at fashion jewelry house CountryDutchess.com . She is the author of 10 books for women and frequently writes about beauty and style.
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