珍贵：跨越时间的宝石历史与奥秘 Precious The History and Mystery of Gems Across Time

基本信息

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books (September 17, 2024)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593500880

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 Kilograms

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.56 x 1.83 x 23.5 cm

页面参数仅供参考，具体以实物为准

书籍简介

一位知名的珠宝专家讲述了她与大自然非凡的宝藏——宝石打交道的职业生涯，并从古埃及记录到今天的高风险拍卖中追溯这些稀有珠宝。

海伦·莫尔斯沃思从小就对宝石着迷，但她很难加入宝石行业，因为与几个世纪以来一直主导该领域的少数几家家族企业没有任何联系。她坚持不懈，二十多年后，莫尔斯沃思现在已成为国际焦点，受雇为英国王室等客户评估非凡珠宝。《珍贵》充满了与几代名人有关的精美珠宝的故事，从埃及艳后（祖母绿）到威尔士王妃凯瑟琳（蓝宝石）；从玛丽莲·梦露（珍珠）到碧昂丝（石榴石）；从杰奎琳（珍珠）到 Lady Gaga（钻石）；从玛丽·安托瓦内特（珍珠）到伊丽莎白·泰勒（珍珠、红宝石和祖母绿）！

正如莫尔斯沃思所说，宝石的历史就是人类的历史。因此，她周游世界，探访非洲钻石矿、哥伦比亚祖母绿矿和斯里兰卡富含蓝宝石的河流，研究宝石的源头。她挑选了十颗自然界耀眼的宝石，追溯它们的发现，直到这些经过切割和抛光的杰作装饰皇后和国王。

从隐藏在地板下数个世纪的无价祖母绿手表的故事，到被打造成世界闻名的皇家珠宝的普通石英，再到售价数百万美元的钻石，《珍贵》不仅是一部考古学和地质学、上流社会和高级金融的编年史，也是我们永恒的雄心壮志的故事，即制造和佩戴美丽的东西。

A renowned jewelry expert recounts her career working with nature’s most extraordinary treasures—gemstones—and traces these rare jewels from ancient Egyptian records through the high-stakes auctions of today.

Helen Molesworth has been captivated by precious stones since early time but she struggled to join the gemstone industry, having no connections to the few family-run companies that have dominated the field for centuries. She persevered, and more than two decades later, Molesworth is now an international authority hired to appraise the extraordinary jewelry of such clients as the British royal family. Precious is packed with inside stories about fabulous jewels associated with generations of celebrities, from Cleopatra (emerald) to Catherine, Princess of Wales (sapphire); from Marilyn Monroe (pearl) to Beyoncé (garnet); from Jackie O (pearl) to Lady Gaga (diamond); and from Marie Antoinette (pearl) to Elizabeth Taylor (pearl, ruby, and emerald)!

As Molesworth tells it, the history of gemstones is the history of humanity. And so she journeys the world, navigating African diamond mines, Colombian emerald mines, and the sapphire-rich rivers of Sri Lanka to study gems at their source. She has selected ten of nature’s most dazzling gems, tracing their discovery to when these cut-and-polished masterpieces first adorned empresses and kings. 

From the stories of a priceless emerald watch hidden under floorboards for centuries to the common quartz fashioned into world-famous royal jewels, and diamonds selling for multi-millions, Precious is not just a chronicle of archeology and geology, high society and high finance, it’s the story of our timeless ambition to make—and wear—something beautiful.

作者简介

海伦的职业生涯横跨全球宝石和珠宝行业，从领先的拍卖行和珠宝行到学术职位。十年来，她一直担任伦敦和日内瓦苏富比和佳士得的珠宝专家，负责全球重要拍卖，包括 2006 年玛格丽特公主殿下的私人珠宝收藏。作为一名宝石学家和珠宝历史学家，她曾担任日内瓦艺术设计大学的珠宝史教授、古柏林珠宝公司的董事总经理，近期还担任维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆的高级珠宝策展人。《珍贵》是她一本面向大众读者的书。

Helen's career has spanned the global gem and jewellery industry, from roles with leading auction and jewellery houses to academic posts. For ten years she was a jewellery specialist for Sotheby's and Christie's in London and Geneva, where she handled sales of global importance including the private jewellery collection of HRH The Princess Margaret in 2006. As a gemmologist and jewellery historian, she has since held roles as Professeur d'Histoire du Bijou at the Geneva University of Art and Design, Managing Director at the House of Gübelin, and most recently as the Senior Jewellery Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Precious is her first book for general readers.