Customer Reviews

Georgian Jewellery 1714-1830

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This review was written for the jewelry collecting community who belong to the Yahoo Group Jewel Collect.

Title: Georgian Jewellery 1714-1830
Authors Ginny Redington Dawes with Olivia Collings
Type of Book: Hardcover
Average Price: $85.00 in print, available from other sources for less just look around on-line
In Print
Pages: 191
300 color illustrations most are photos but some archival materials.

Brief Description of Book
Georgian Jewellery 1714-1830 is beautiful! There are hundreds of color photos that hook the reader into the dazzling beauty of ornaments of yesterday. The bulk of the pieces in this book were made during the last 50 years of the Georgian Era.
Georgian Jewellery is composed of six chapters the first three; Dawn, Day and Night group jewelry by what time of day it was intended to be worn. Tidbit: Coral was the only natural material that was considered acceptable for all times of the day and night. The remaining chapters group jewels by their purpose: Love, Death and Eternity. A note that is the English spelling of jewelry I didn't forget to use spell check.


Quantity of Illustrations: 300 total including original photos and archival images
Comments: Score: 10

Quality of Illustrations: Most illustrations are color photographs by Tom Dawes, the author Ginny Redington Dawes husband. He has a steady hand and a wonderful eye for jewels. Most of the photos are large so there is a lot of detail. Many times there are one or two photos to a page so the pieces look as if they are close to their true size. I see two shortcomings in this book. One, there are only a few photos of the reverse side of the pieces. Since many readers will not have the opportunity to handle Georgian pieces first hand those photos would have been a great aid to help positively identification. The second shortfall is that there are no measurements of the pieces so it is impossible to determine how large or small they are.
There are also a number delightful of archival paintings and etchings that show how the jewelry was originally worn.

Score: 10

Quantity of Information: 10
Is the information thorough? It is hard to say but I sure learned a lot reading Georgian Jewellery.

Score: 10

Values Listed (Prices):No
Score: NA

User Friendly: Yes, includes an index
Is the book easy to read and follow? Yes it is. It is written in a readable style not too chatty and not to dry. I found it very interesting and have referred to it a number of times since I purchased it.
Score: 10

Average score: 10

Is this book a must have? Yes. If you are interested in jewelry history this is a must have.

Overall comments: Buy it!

The authors state in the introduction that they hope this book will fill in a space in the reference works for collectors of Georgian jewellery - and with that in mind they have done a fine job with this book. It is filled with beautiful colour plates of Georgian jewellery to enable you to gain an eye for the styles and techniques used during the period. The text is rather light - it is mostly about the social conventions behind the types of jewellery illustrated. The majority of the jewels illustrated are English but there are also quality examples from other countries that collectors may come across.

For established collectors of antique jewellery the back section of this book will probably prove the most useful where the authors describe some of the fakes etc in the current market and how to spot them. For lovers of antique jewellery this book is a must and it is an excellent companion to the more technical book by MDS Lewis Antique Paste Jewellery (Faber collectors library) on the paste jewels of the same period.

I took a chance and bought this book sight unseen hoping to learn more about georgian jewellery. This book has magnificent photography of many wonderful pieces but I thought the scholarship quite poor and the research, average or below at best. This took away a lot of the enjoyment for me, because if you can't fully trust the information it can take the edge off your appreciation of a volume of work.

Great for the coffee table. But I personally wouldn't recommend it for serious research unless you already know a lot about the period or subject and can pick the bias and flaws for what they are.

I'm disappointed, but not sorry I bought it due to the images and bits and pieces of information that still make the purchase worthwhile.

Very pretty. I'll be looking for other books in future to fill in the blanks.

I ordered this book on little information to go by, and am thrilled with it. Though it spanned over 100 years, most books blip right past the Georgian era. It's extra heavenly therefore to have a whole book devoted to the subject, and one that is well written and beautifully photographed as well. Many/most images are color - including portraits and archival illustrations. I'd consider it a reference work, as it is more than just pretty photos. The authors are jewelry dealers and experts - I think their research on that subject can be trusted. I was really pleased with the amount and quality of the information provided in that regard, especially as so many jewelry books focus on being price guides (which this is not) and include little or no text. While the entire period is covered, I'd say the emphasis is on the latter half, the Regency-George IV's rule in particular - which is the time period I am most interested in. The chapters cover daytime jewelry; evening jewelry; romantic jewelry (including the fascinating eye portraits, or "lover's eye" jewelry, hair jewelry, acrostic jewelry, including those lovely "regard" rings, and other types of sentimental jewelry); and mourning jewelry. In the final chapter, they discuss tips and pitfalls of collecting Georgian jewelry (and I learned that if I want a Georgian "regard" ring that I'll only too likely forget to take off when showering/gardening, etc., I had better get a reproduction). The photos are simply wonderful, and dates are provided for most of the pieces, which I appreciate. I can't stop looking at it.

Shows great examples of Georgian jewellery. I sell antique jewellery at Uchizono Gallery and there are almost identical pieces pictured in this Georgian Jewellery book. Very useful to show my customers what they are buying and when a piece was made. Wonderful to share such an amazing collection!

A beautifully illustrated book on the exquisite jewellery of this era. it also gives great insight into the styles of the day and excellant information on the actual manufacture of the pieces illustrated.A beutiful book for lovers of fine Jewellery.