Customer Reviews

European Designer Jewelry/a Schiffer Book for Collectors

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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There are not enough superlatives to describe this book. The photos leap from the page and are simply splendid. The author is knowledgabe and writes in a clear, understandable manner. Covered well are famous designers plus those designers who are relatively unheard of in America but who produce a quality portfolio of work.

This is one of my prized books and would be the last I would ever part with. If there was a 10 star rating, this book would have earned it!

Compendium of knowledge about designers of European jewelry. Very useful for the collectors and historians of art. Many (some hundreds!) of great pictures of jewelry.

This is absolutely essential reading for anyone who collects or sells vintage jewelry. Beyond that, it's also a fascinating read for anyone who simply loves jewelry - or the deep impact of fashion on the art and society of the Western world from the mid-Nineteenth Century to present day! In a burgeoning field of books about vintage jewelry (both costume and fine) this book stands alone.

Ms. Moro's encyclopedic knowledge, sweeping cultural overview and ability to accessibly contextualize her subject on such a grand scale.. c'est formidable! Her scholarship is impeccable. The richness of the material is unparalleled. Her fascinating life experience (a brief foray in the movie business as a Paramount contract player - google 'Ginger Hall'; her years as an antiquarian in Paris & London of the 60's; her personal interviews with artisans and celebrities) serves to establish her as both informed raconteur and intimate historian. Throughout this dense, dazzlingly pictorial overview, she weaves her tales with a wry wit and a knowing wink, brightly illuminating what might in other hands be a dry treatise, indeed.

If you can only buy one book on this subject, this is the one. When you get it, curl up with a good glass of wine and prepare to be transported to another world - with an enchanting personal guide who has been there, done that and come through it all with the cosmopolitan twinkle in her eyes intact. You won't be at all sorry!!

Hundreds of detailed descriptions and photos of vintage jewelry from countries all over Europe makes this book a bible for jewelry collecting outside of the US. The book includes a value guide and spans items from imitation jewelry all the way to the pricey stuff.

The pictures are of an exceptional quality and it's clear the author did her homework, well worth the slightly higher price tag.