Diamonds and Precious Stones

Glittering jewels and precious stones -- diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires -- have dazzled us since earliest times and have long been treasured for their rarity, symbolic value, divine or magical properties, exotic origins, and incomparable beauty. Sovereigns have coveted them, from the Aztec emperors, whose emeralds were larger than a man¹s fist, to the shahs of Persia, who sat on thrones encrusted with rubies and diamonds, to the royalty of Europe, whose crowns and scepters were set with stones of great price. The history of precious stones from raw mineral to finely wrought necklace, and from ancient times to today, is a fascinating one, full of legend, mystery, and adventure. Hundreds of color and b&w illustrations. Translated from the French edition.Voillot, Patrick is the author of 'Diamonds and Precious Stones', published 2005 under ISBN 9780756789053 and ISBN 0756789052.