Women and Their Jewels

by David Lelait-Helo

ISBN: 9781784729677

Published: 2025-09-16

A sumptuously illustrated book exploring the lives and loves of 15 famous women through the prism of their jewelry - including Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth II, Jackie Kennedy and Wallis Simpson. The word 'jewel' derives from the Old French word joiel, a word that finds its roots in the words for playing, joy, and enjoyment, proof that jewelry is intimately tied to notions of pleasure and happiness. For some, it is the pleasure of love, for others, an obsessive passion. For Wallis Simpson, after the throne had passed her by, her jeweled treasures were her solace. As for Maria Callas, the soprano amassed diamonds and rubies to ward off the poverty of her childhood, and to spark the jealousy of a mother she hated. Barbara Hutton, America's most famous poor little rich girl, went around wearing a tiara, demanding to be called a princess. And they have been the cause of so much drama, Marie-Antoinette, whose diamond necklace identified her and sent her to the guillotine; Joséphine de...