Product Description

Why is Faberge unique? What is champleve enamel? Why should emeralds be regarded with suspicion? Which jewels contain miniature coffins? Starting to Collect Antique Jewellery tracks the progress of jewellery designs from early times to the twentieth-century, assisting the professional jeweller, the collector and the student in making informed and balanced judgments upon scores of crucial topics - from the setting of old gems, to fakes and forgeries. This book is superbly illustrated with hundreds of colour photographs provided by auction houses, dealers, leading shops and private collectors. From Castellani to Cartier, from hair combs to cameos, Starting to Collect Antique Jewellery represents a key companion which is relevant, readable and comprehensively informative.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #151239 in Books
• Published on: 1999-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
John C. Benjamin served a four-year apprenticeship at Cameo Corner, the Bloomsbury antique jewellers specialising in rare and historic jewellery from Ancient Rome to the nineteenth-century. He was International Director of Jewellery for Philips Fine Art Auctioneers, before setting up on his own as an independent jewellery consultant in 1999. A lecturer, writer and broadcaster, he has lectured extensively to professional groups, universities and societies in Britain, Europe and America, and regularly appears on BBC Television's Antiques Roadshow. He is a fellow of the Gemmological Association and was admitted to the Goldsmith's Company in 2000.

Customer Reviews

Great for the collector -new and old
Having collected many antique jewellery books and having bought/sold jewellery items for many years.I would say ,for the collector of British antique jewellery, this is an excellent book for both new and old collectors . I find the books produced for the American market(of which there are many) have styles that are difficult to place and recognise for the British market. This book is very well researched and provides great colour photos-I would recommend it to the enthusiast of vintage jewellery

Jewellery Collection
This has become a coffee table book.
Some lovely photography and useful narrative.
A reference must for the serious, but maybe not so experienced jewellery collector.