My Favorite Jewelry Books

I obviously have an obsession with jewelry. As such, I do try to buy really good jewelry books when I have the money. These types of books are normally very expensive, but the quality is so amazing, they far surpass any images found on the internet. I have looked through dozens of jewelry books, either at libraries or bookstores, and I am quite proud of the small, but high-quality collection that I own.

These are the favorite jewelry books that I own:

The Queen's Diamonds, by Hugh Roberts. Has a list price of $95 but I got it for the discounted price of $67.49, available at Amazon. I just recently purchased this, and let me tell you, it has huge, amazing high resolution images of most of Queen Elizabeth II's important jewels, as well as their respective original owners wearing the jewels. The book is separated into sections from the jewels that Queen Victoria added to the collection, all the way through Elizabeth II. 

My Love Affair with Jewelry, by Elizabeth Taylor. I bought this book over ten years ago, and it seems no one wanted it at the time, as I got it on sale for only $10 new. Since the death of Taylor, the value of this book has skyrocketed, with Amazon.com selling the book for upwards of $200.  This book has amazing photos along with Taylor's own stories about how she acquired these jewels.

Faberge: Imperial Craftsman and his World, by Dr. Geza von Hapsburg. Hapsburg has written numerous books on Faberge, but this is one of the better ones I've seen. I purchased this one for about $20 new, but it's normal list price was about $60. There are nice photos of sketches by the Faberge firm for tiaras, necklaces, and other jewels that were made for the Russian imperial family. This book includes Faberge silvers, enamels, picture frames, and some eggs. The bits of jewelry that are included are quite beautiful, as was everything the Russian firm made.

The Queen's Jewels, by Leslie Field. I bought this new for about $10 ten years ago. Most of the photos are black and white, but still of high resolution. One of the best parts about this book are all the stories about the royal personages that owned the jewels. One anecdote talks about how Queen Alexandra delayed the opening of parliament until all the faux pearl beads from one of her broken necklaces were picked off of the ground.

Tiaras: Past and Present, by Geoffrey Munn. This is my favorite tiara book (except for Munn's other tiara book, which is oversized and contains many more photos, which I do not own). The photos are high resolution, full color. Definitely worth buying if you love pictures of tiaras. I bought this new for about $25.

Jewelry: Ancient to Modern, by Walters Art Gallery. I found this book at a yardsale for $2. Its one great downside is that because it is from 1979, when color printing was expensive, most of the images are grasyscale. There is a large selection of jewels from the past 2000 or so years. It has been a great inspiration for me when making my own jewels.

Tiara, by Diana Scarisbrick. This book contains many full-color images of tiaras, but the downside is that some of them are very small or not high resolution. The designer also did this strange thing where all the tiaras are cut out of whatever background they were originally on. It is incredibly obvious, and not very well done. Having said all that, if you find this book for a good price (I would say less than $30), it does contain a treasure trove of images. I bought this new for about $35.

Paulding Farnham: Tiffany's Lost Genius. This contains the best photos of Tiffany's best jewels. I really don't like most books on the Tiffany firm, but this one heavily focuses on tiaras, brooches, and necklaces rather than stained glass or silver. I actually first saw this book in a Tiffany & Co. shop! I bought this used for about $20.

Jewelry, by HART Picture Archives. The best part about this book is that all the illustrations are public domain, meaning you can make art out of these and actually sell it without any fear of copyright infringement. These types of books were really popular in the days before computers and software(mostly Adobe Photoshop) took over. There is only a tiny section on tiaras, but the other images are just as lovely. I paid about $5 for this at a secondhand book shop.

Queen Mary of Great Britain

Queen Mary wearing the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" Tiara without the thin diamond bandeau at the base which is now a permanent part of the tiara.

Mary wearing a diamond dog collar, large diamond earrings, and the diamond spike tiara that Elizabeth II wore at her wedding.

Queen Mary wearing just the diamond bandeau that is now permanently attached to the base of the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" Tiara.

Mary at her and George V's coronation. She is wearing the crown that was made specifically for her, with the Koh-i-nur diamond at it's center.

Queen Mary wearing a diamond collar necklace that had been made for Queen Alexandra, and the diamond kokoshnik tiara of Alexandra's.

Queen Mary when still the Duchess of York.

Mary wearing the diamond George IV diadem.

Queen Mary wears the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" tiara upright like a crown, a diamond dog collar necklace, and another necklace that also converted for wear as a tiara.

Queen Alexandra of Great Britain

Queen Alexandra's sister, the Empress Marie Fedorovna of Russia, with her husband, Emperor Alexander III.

Empress Marie Fedorovna wearing a large diamond kokoshnik tiara and rows of diamond collars around her neck.

Queen Alexandra and Empress Marie often dressed the same to amuse themselves when appearing in society.

Queen Alexandra wearing a diamond kokoshnik tiara and rows of diamond and pearl necklaces. She had a scar on her neck from a childhood illness, which was covered in the daytime by high-collared dresses, and disguised in the evening with a large amount of jewels.

Alexandra wearing the small diamond crown of Queen Victoria. 

Alexandra and Dagmar (Empress Marie's name when she was a Danish Princess), dressed identically.

Queen Alexandra wears three diamond bow brooches down the front of her dress, with strands of diamonds hanging from each one.

Alexandra loved animals, and is pictured here with her cockatiel, Cocky, who lived to be 80 years old.

A beautiful painting of Queen Alexandra.

Alexandra with a pet kitten. She was so attached to her pets, that when they died, she had headstones made for them and proper graves at Marlborough House.

Elizabeth II Regina

Queen Elizabeth wearing the diamond "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" Tiara, and the diamond and cabochon emerald Delhi Durbar necklace.

Elizabeth and Philip in their engagement portrait. Elizabeth is wearing the diamond Dorset Bow Brooch of Queen Mary's.

The Queen in the 1950's, wearing the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland" Tiara, the diamond chandelier earrings, and the three-tiered diamond festoon necklace. She is also wearing the Cullinan III and IV diamonds as a brooch.

Elizabeth wearing the famous diamond tiara again (it was a wedding gift to Queen Mary), with Queen Victoria's coronation necklace, a wavy diamond bow brooch (also Mary's), and large diamond drop earrings.

The Queen at a movie premiere, wearing a diamond and ruby necklace with white furs, diamond tiara, and gold dress.

The Queen wearing the "Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara" with a simple pearl necklace.

Elizabeth wearing the diamond kokoshnik tiara of Queen Alexandra. It was based off of a diamond kokoshnik belonging to Alexandra's sister, the Empress Marie Fedorovna of Russia.

Elizabeth wearing a 4 strand pearl necklace with a neat grape vine hat..

The Queen wearing diamond and pearl earrings, a simple 3-strand pearl necklace, and a diamond bow brooch.

The queen on her wedding day. She wore the diamond fringe tiara, pearl earrings, and a pearl necklace.

The Queen as a child. She is wearing a brooch made of diamonds and precious stones.

This picture, from the 1980's, show the Queen wearing the Kent Demi-Paure of Amethysts and diamonds. The parure belonged to Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent. The Queen rarely wears this beautiful set of jewellery, but with a new Princess in the family, we may see Kate wearing some of these not-often seen jewels.