Brilliance and fire : a biography of diamonds /

Brilliance and fire : a biography of diamonds /

Sheds new light on the enticing, often surprising, story of our society's enduring obsession with the hardest gemstone, offering a fascinating history of its origins and revealing its greatest champions and most colorful enthusiasts.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bergstein, Rachelle (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2016]
Edition:First edition.
Subjects:
Diamonds > Social aspects.
Diamonds > History.
Diamond industry and trade > History.
Table of Contents:
  • The buyers : how the American rich came to love diamonds
  • The seekers : how one sickly Englishman took over the diamond industry
  • The lovers : how young women came to expect diamond rings (part I)
  • The show-offs : how a single stone bewitched its owners, and captivated America
  • The optimists : how the industry survived two world wars and the Great Depression
  • The sellers : how young women came to expect diamond rings (part II)
  • The queens : how Wallis Simpson earned her diamonds
  • The stars : how an advertising agency got diamonds ready for their close-up
  • The winners : how Elizabeth Taylor learned to speak Italian
  • The meddlers : how little stones got big
  • The inventors : how to make a diamond (and provoke De Beers)
  • The illusionists : how the magicians protected their tricks
  • The masters : how the Australians democratized diamonds
  • The stunners : how tough guys started wearing diamonds
  • The critics : how a global crisis changed the meaning of "forever"
  • The innovators : how to sell diamonds in a (more) enlightened world.