Women and Their Jewels
Octopus Publishing Group
The word jewel derives from the Old French word joiel a word that finds its roots in the words for playing joy and enjoyment proof that jewellery is intimately tied to notions of pleasure and happiness For some it is the pleasure of love for others an obsessive passion For Wallis Simpson after the throne had passed her by her jeweled treasures were her solace As for Maria Callas the soprano amassed diamonds and rubies to ward off the poverty of her childhood and to spark the jealousy of a mother she hated Barbara Hutton America s most famous poor little rich girl went around wearing a tiara demanding to be called a princess And they have been the cause of so much drama Marie Antoinette whose diamond necklace identified her and sent her to the guillotine Josephine de Beauharnais who was also embroiled in a necklace affair involving Marie Antoinette s pearls Begum Om Habibeh Miss France 1930 and wife of the Aga Khan who was robbed of her royal jewellery in the middle of the street In this gloriously illustrated book novelist and jewellery expert David Lelait Helo stares into the jewellery boxes of these illustrious women to discover their hearts and their minds The women featured are Ava Gardner Barbara Hutton Brooke Astor Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor Eugenie de Montijo Grace Kelly Helena Rubinstein Jackie Kennedy Diana Princess of Wales Maria Callas Marie Antoinette Princess Soraya Wallis Simpson Duchess of Windsor Begum Om Habibeh Tanıtım Bülteninden
