Author: Eric BrutonPublisher:
ISBN: 9780801975110
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
Tells the stories behind famous diamonds, rubies, ermeralds, sapphires, opals, and pearls, and recounts how gemstones were mined
Jewels
Author: Victoria FinlayPublisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0345466950
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 506
Book Description
Throughout history, precious stones have inspired passions and poetry, quests and curses, sacred writings and unsacred actions. In this scintillating book, journalist Victoria Finlay embarks on her own globe-circling search for the real stories behind some of the gems we prize most. Blending adventure travel, geology, exciting new research, and her own irresistible charm, Finlay has fashioned a treasure hunt for some of the most valuable, glamorous, and mysterious substances on earth. With the same intense curiosity and narrative flair she displayed in her widely-praised book Color, Finlay journeys from the underground opal churches of outback Australia to the once pearl-rich rivers of Scotland; from the peridot mines on an Apache reservation in Arizona to the remote ruby mines in the mountains of northern Burma. She risks confronting scorpions to crawl through Cleopatra’s long-deserted emerald mines, tries her hand at gem cutting in the dusty Sri Lankan city where Marco Polo bartered for sapphires, and investigates a rumor that fifty years ago most of the world’s amber was mined by prisoners in a Soviet gulag. Jewels is a unique and often exhilarating voyage through history, across cultures, deep into the earth’s mantle, and up to the glittering heights of fame, power, and wealth. From the fabled curse of the Hope Diamond, to the disturbing truths about how pearls are cultured, to the peasants who were once executed for carrying amber to the centuries-old quest by magicians and scientists to make a perfect diamond, Jewels tells dazzling stories with a wonderment and brilliance truly worthy of its subjects.
Legendary Gems
Author: Eric BrutonPublisher: Robert Hale
ISBN: 9780719804014
Category : Gems
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"Gems still exert a powerful influence on the modern world, enlightened though it is said to be: once poverty-stricken, Botswana has recently found sudden wealth under the desert sands, where diamonds have been hiding for a hundred million years. In the Congo, Zaire, and Angola, civil war in our times has been inspired partly by mineral riches. And the rivalry of East and West over the African continent is concerned almost entirely with natural resources." "This absorbing and often astonishing history of legendary gems is told by expert gemmologist Eric Bruton. Amid legends and intrigue are hard facts about gems - classification, valuation and engraving. Prospecting and mining details, plus the inside (and sometimes sordid) stories of how enormous stones were cut and dispersed in great secrecy, make this book a 'must' read for the gemmologist and jeweller."--BOOK JACKET.
Hope Diamond
Author: Richard KurinPublisher: Smithsonian Institution
ISBN: 1588344193
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 405
Book Description
An entertaining and well-researched history of the Hope diamond Since its discovery in seventeenth-century India, the Hope diamond, a glimmering deep blue gem weighing over 45 carats, has been shrouded in mystery and steeped in intrigue. In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Richard Kurin goes beyond the speculation to reveal the truth behind a legendary stone. Kurin, a cultural anthropologist, spent more than a decade on the trail of the legendary gem. But the 'curse' that surrounds it, which Kurin puts to rest once and for all, is only one small piece of a long and lustrous story that moves between ancient religion and modern magic, royal power and class rivalry, revenge and greed. Richly illustrated, Hope Diamond works in a grand historical tradition: depicting the specific to reveal the universal.
Fairasy
Author: SivaPublisher: V Murali
ISBN: 1477535853
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 344
Book Description
Hello! It’s my pleasure to introduce you to this fantasy story book full of magic and mystery and adventure and what not! Hari, a normal boy enters the Fairyland by mistake and without his consent has to adventure throughout unravelling its mysteries! Enough of Introductions! Start reading; savouring the magic this book contains............
Game Design Tools
Author: Diego RicchiutiPublisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000828239
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 277
Book Description
This book provides a series of transdisciplinary tools to help game designers improve their design pipeline and design output. Using approaches from psychology, anthropology, and sociology, it offers practical tools for all the main aspects of game design from conception through to testing. Drawing on game design theory, the book looks at the relationship between game design and other disciplines to create a toolbox of modern tools for game designers. It covers archetypes, praxeology, behavioural game design, and emotional game design. Covering a wide breadth of content, the book includes chapters on: Documentation Production Evaluation Analysis and Marketing tools This book will be of great interest to students on game design courses, as well as early-career game designers and those looking to break into the industry. It will also be of interest to more experienced game designers looking for new game design tools.
Gems
Author: François FargesPublisher: Rizzoli Publications
ISBN: 2081512955
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Enter into the fascinating world of precious gems through this unique volume that brings together the wonders of mineralogy and masterpieces of jewelry. Both a reference book and an exhibition catalog, Gems unveils the fascinating world of minerals and gems through a dialogue between the prestigious collections of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris and the great French jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels. The Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris welcomes the exhibition Gems from September 16, 2020‒May 4, 2021. This beautifully illustrated volume brings together an international team of mineralogists, scientists, and specialists in natural history and in the history of jewelry, under the editorial direction of François Farges, to explore the diversity of the mineral universe through an exceptional selection of geological specimens (some published here for the first time), legendary gems, and exceptional ornaments created throughout history. Raw crystals, cut stones, and jewelry are compared and contrasted, shedding light on both the natural wonders made by the Earth itself and the virtuoso creations of human hands that transform them into works of art.
Bryre's Jewels
Author: Joan HowPublisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1425721109
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 505
Book Description
To the west, proud and alone, was the Imperial Country. To the East stood the Freelands, engulfed in civil war since its very birth. Above them was Cecorria, Home of all Sorcery, struggling against its very own downfall. And finally there was Bryre, the keeper of the sinister Blood Jewels, deadly to all who held them too close. But above them all was another country, a country ignored and long gone silent, but just stirring awake. Only myths told of three heroines arising to meet the powers rising from the North, but myths are myths, stories, and nothing more.
Colored Gemstones
Author: Antoinette Leonard MatlinsPublisher: Gemstone Press
ISBN: 0943763452
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
Purchasing coloured gemstones can be a magical experience, filled with excitement and anticipation. But lack of information, error, or misrepresentation can make buying gemstones confusing, intimidating, overwhelming, and costly. With more varieties than ever before to choose from, including altogether new gems, revolutionary new cuts, and new ways to buy gems -- such as internet auctions and TV shopping -- there has never been a more exciting time to buy or collect coloured gemstones. But there are also new high-tech treatments and sophisticated frauds to look out for. Lack of information, error, or misrepresentation can make the thrill of buying a gem or piece of jewellery confusing, intimidating, overwhelming, and costly. Buyers need a source of expert guidance. To help you avoid the pitfalls and keep the magic, Antoinette Matlins, an internationally respected expert on buying gems, puts her insider knowledge to work for you in this easy-to-read, easy-to-use guide. Practical, comprehensive, and easy to understand, the guide offers in depth all the information you need in order to know what to look for and what to look out for, including: what qualifies as a 'gemstone'?; how to evaluate colour -- and its impact on price; deciding between a natural gem and an enhanced gem; coloured gemstone synthesis and treatment; what to ask when buying the stone; what to get in writing; how to get what you want within your budget; price guides for popular gems, opals, and synthetic stones; And much, much more!
Lumen
Author: Kristen CollinsPublisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 1606069292
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 276
Book Description
Sumptuously illustrated with dazzling objects, this publication explores the ways art and science worked hand in hand in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Through the manipulation of materials, such as gold, crystal, and glass, medieval artists created dazzling light-filled environments, evoking, in the everyday world, the layered realms of the divine. While contemporary society separates science and spirituality, the medieval world harnessed the science of light to better perceive and understand the sacred. From 800 to 1600, the study of astronomy, geometry, and optics emerged as a framework that was utilized by theologians and artists to comprehend both the sacred realm and the natural world. Through essays written by contributors from the fields of art history, the history of science, and neuroscience, and with more than two hundred illustrations, including glimmering golden reliquaries, illuminated manuscripts, rock crystal vessels, astronomical instruments, and more, Lumen cuts across religious, political, and geographic boundaries to reveal the ways medieval Christian, Jewish, and Islamic artists, theologians, and thinkers studied light. To convey the sense of wonder created by moving light on precious materials, a number of contemporary artworks are placed in dialogue with historic objects. This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from September 10 to December 8, 2024.
