New Book Explores Jewelry History, in 8 Pieces

New York--Jewelers, need an idea for a unique in-store event that will spark conversation about people’s emotional connection to jewelry throughout history?

Or, are you looking for holiday gifts for members of your staff or other jewelry-lovers in your life?

Aja Raden, who spent seven years as the senior designer for Tacori, recently got her first book published. Called Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World, it is a work of narrative nonfiction and it examines how jewelry played a part in world-changing events.

The BBC listed it as one of its 10 books to read in December, and it also made Amazon’s list of best books of the month.

Also recently released was Beth Bernstein’s latest book, If These Jewels Could Talk: The Legends Behind Celebrity Gems. The writer gets into the jewelry boxes of Hollywood leading ladies and members of the noble class to find out more about their favorite baubles.

More on these two books, along with two additional new releases for the months of November and December, are below.

1. Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World
Aja Raden

Raden has been designing jewelry for more than a decade, seven of which she spent as the senior designer for Tacori. Stoned, a work of narrative nonfiction, is her first published book where she explores how eight jewels shaped the course of history. Among the historically important pieces included in the book is the diamond necklace originally commissioned by Louis XV of France and involved in the famed “Affair of the Diamond Necklace.” The affair was a very public scandal that helped to fuel the general populace’s hatred of the Bourbon monarchy and, ultimately, the French Revolution.

Stoned is 368 pages.

2. If These Jewels Could Talk: The Legends Behind Celebrity Gems
Beth Bernstein

A jewelry journalist and published author, Bernstein digs into the jewelry boxes of some of the world’s most well-known women to bring to light their tastes, true stories and the heart-felt memories of how, when and from whom they got their jewelry. The book starts with Hollywood and nobility in the 1920s and extends through modern day. 

If These Jewels Could Talk is 256 pages.

3. The Anatomy of a Calling: A Road Map for Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
Dr. Lissa Rankin

Rankin is