Customer Reviews

Jewels of the Romanovs: Family & Court

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

 

 

This is a magnificent book. I have never seen diamonds and aquamarines look so beautiful. The photography is great and it is a noble effort. However, I was surprised to find a number of serious mistakes in the book. For example, Olga did not travel to Yekaterinburg with her parents, it was Maria. I found a dozen errors like this, it wasn't a pleasant experience, I wanted the book to be better. The book also is ignorant of many important facts regarding Alexandra, her jewels and their fate. I would say buy the book for the pictures. Let us hope that someday we'll get a great book on Alexandra and her jewels. This is not it.

This is a lovely book to look at and the author has unearthed some very rare photos you only normally see in low quality on the internet along with pieces sold long ago at obscure auctions for our viewing pleasure. Having said that I found this book somewhat disappointing. Given the topic there's some unavoidable cross over with the contents of Jewels of the Tsars: The Romanovs and Imperial Russia, which is another visual treat. The author has also matched up photos of people wearing their jewels to sold pieces that is very interesting and lacking in "Jewels of the Tsars" on a scale such as this.

What it is missing though is a full list of the jewels sold in 1927 and those taken into exile with the imperial family. To get the 1927 list you have to get A History of the Crown Jewels of Europe which is both rare and expensive or for the jewels in exile The Fate of the Romanovswhere the list is available as an appendix. The lack of this hard, useful information for those researching Russian imperial jewels will make this book of mostly visual use in the future rather than the last word on the subject. One other glaring omission in both of these books is a lack of photos of the jeweled badges the ladies in waiting wore for each empress. These are distinctly Russian pieces of jewellery, and while odd examples are shown neither book goes into them in any detail which is a great pity.

The text is 90% recounting of the biographies of various members of the imperial family and friends lives. I suspect a full family tree would be useful for those not familiar with the Romanovs. The majority of the information about the jewels themselves is to be found in the captions for the pictures and for me that made this a somewhat odd book, but one which nevertheless will have it's place on my bookshelf.

This lovely book is read more as a memoir than a jewelry book. Many photos are of jewels that were destroyed or lost, so the book also act as an archive of these wonderful creations. The text is very well done but with so many Marias, Alexandras and the complicated system for russian last names, a genealogical tree or guide would have been so welcomed (next edition maybe). If you love russian history or jewelry, a great addition for your library.

The book's text has some major errors in it. Maria was the daughter who left Tobolsk with her parents, journeying on to Ekaterinberg. They then waited for Alexis (the Tsarevitch) and his three sisters, (Anastasia, Olga, and Tatiana) to follow with the rest of the Imperial household. Being an executive director of a history museum, my opinion is that someone with a historical background on the Romanovs should have proofed the text for the author before the book was sent to the publishers. However, the photos of the jewels are undeniably beautiful, and the tasteful design of the book's pages are to be commended. The photographer definitely used all the talents in his possession in conveying the breathtaking beauty of these wonderful, one of a kind, historic artifacts. The pics of the family are really wonderful....bringing to life the history of the tragic family they were connected with.

This book is lavishly illustrated and has much documentation. However, I feel that there is more information on the individual members of the Romanov family than of the jewels themeselves. The author should have included who the present owners of these gems are or if they have been distroyed. I understand that some of the present owners might not like their names included, so the "generic" term Private Collection would have sufficed. It is very inconvenient to have to go back to the end of the book to see the source of the photographs and thereby surmise who the present owners might be.
Nonetheless, it is a great book to have for lovers of jewels and the Romanovs.

This is a must have for royal jewel fans. This is book has amazing pictures (color and black/white), accurate information and a chapter dedicated to the history of many jewels after the revolution. There is very little over lap of information between Jewels of the Romanovs and Jewels of the Tsars.

This is a fabulous book with beautiful photographs of some of the stunning jewels of the Russian royal family. It is also a fascinating view into the life and history of the Russian royal family and the royal families of Europe. A wonderful blend of history, biography and unbelievable jewels!