Campy, bitchy, outrageous, and quite a bit more than over the top, Abby Zinzo describes himself as “a cross between Auntie Mame and Louis the Sun King.” Abby has lived a life dedicated to pleasure, and nothing has given him more pleasure than owning, wearing, or merely contemplating the lustrous objects with which women and men have always adorned themselves. In this sexy, funny book that is part novel and part thesis on jewelry, Abby sits down to record everything he has learned over a lifetime, planning to leave this story along with his collection of valuable stones to his beloved niece, Zeem. He recounts the history of famous gems–like the fabulous Koh-i-Noor and the brilliant blue Hope diamond–and regales us with naughty tales of the women who made the beautiful jewelry their own, including Coco Chanel, the Duchess of Windsor, and Elizabeth Taylor. He also narrates his own sensational life, from Harvard undergraduate to dancer in a notorious Paris drag cabaret to his twilight as a man for whom gender is just another glittering ornament. Sharp, fascinating, and sparkling with its own inner fire, Jewelry Talks is precious gem in and of itself.

In the 1960s and 1970s, a generation of young Americans rejected the promise of prosperity and the suburban dream embraced by their parents. Furious about the war in Vietnam, fighting for civil rights at home, and eagerly exploring the effects of psychedelic drugs, the delights of free love, and the mystical teachings of eastern religions, thousands followed the advice to "turn on, tune in, drop out," bringing about a counterculture in the process. For many American jewelers, these events and values found their way into the studio, as well as affecting how they lived, worked, and loved. Jewelers, like other studio craftspeople, rode the wave of popularity for the hand-made and authentic that was at the heart of the counterculture. In Flux is the story of how their jewelry contributed to the raucous, contradictory, and enthusiastic clamor for a new kind of society that made the 1960s and 1970s so extraordinary.

As one of the oldest costume jewelry companies still in existence, Monet has, for almost 70 years, made jewelry that cannot be surpassed for its quality, craftsmanship, and audacious design. Monet: The Master Jewelers is a long overdue, in-depth look at this innovative and enduring company. Through comprehensive research, little known facts about Monet and its founders, Michael and Joseph Chernow, as well as the people behind it, are revealed for the first time. Misconceptions about the company's origins and its early years are finally corrected. This is also a visual celebration of the artistry of Monet jewelry throughout the decades. Delving well beyond basic gold necklaces and earrings, you will be overwhelmed by the diversified and unique styling of the many bracelets, charms, earrings, and necklaces Monet pioneered throughout their long history. The Monet experience is further explored through vintage magazine and newspaper advertisements, patents, rare company and family photos, as well as never-before-published memorabilia from the early Monocraft years. Collectors, dealers, designers, stylists, and anyone with an appreciation of costume jewelry and its history will find this book to be a valuable and must-have reference.

From the author of The Song of the Jade Lily comes a thrilling story of a family secret that leads to a legendary treasure. Why would someone bury a bucket of precious jewels and gemstones and never return? Present Day. When respected American jewelry historian, Kate Kirby, receives a call about the Cheapside jewels, she knows she’s on the brink of the experience of a lifetime. But the trip to London forces Kate to explore secrets that have long been buried by her own family. Back in Boston, Kate has uncovered a series of sketches in her great-grandmother’s papers linking her suffragette great-grandmother Essie to the Cheapside collection. Could these sketches hold the key to Essie’s secret life in Edwardian London? In the summer of 1912, impoverished Irish immigrant Essie Murphy happens to be visiting her brother when a workman’s pickaxe strikes through the floor of an old tenement house in Cheapside, near St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The workmen uncover a stash of treasure—from Ottoman pendants to Elizabethan and Jacobean gems—and then the finds disappear again! Could these jewels—one in particular—change the fortunes of Essie and her sisters? Together with photographer Marcus Holt, Kate Kirby chases the history of the Cheapside gems and jewels, especially the story of a small diamond champlevé enamel ring. Soon, everything Kate believes about her family, gemology, and herself will be threatened. Based on a fascinating true story, The Lost Jewels is a riveting historical fiction novel that will captivate readers from the beginning to the unforgettable, surprising end.

Liza Urla is the author of the jewelry blog, Gemologue https://gemologue.com/tag/jewelry-blog

This final volume in the four-volume series Habits of Being shows how the dialectic between everyday appearance and outrageous acts is mediated through clothing and accessories. It considers how clothing and accessories can move quickly from the ordinary to the extravagant. Employing many different approaches, these essays explore how wearing an object—a crown, a flower, an earring, a corsage, a veil, even a length of material—can stray beyond the bounds of the body on which it is placed into the discrepant territory of flagrantly excessive public signs of love, status, honor, prestige, power, desire, and display. The varied contributions of scholars (historians, ethnographers, literary and film critics) and artists (photographers, sculptors, writers, weavers, and embroiderers) take up the threads of these forays into history, psyche, and aesthetics in surprising and useful ways. With examples from around the world, contributors address how the simple action of ornamenting the body, even with something as common as a button, are open to elaborate interpretations—which themselves offer new understandings of human behavior and artistic endeavor. When our “habits of being” receive close scrutiny, they seem anything but habitual. Contributors: Mariapia Bobbiobi; Camilla Cattarulla, U of Rome Three; Paola Colaiacomo, Sapienza, U of Rome; Maria Damon, Pratt Institute of Art; Joanne B. Eicher, U of Minnesota; Maria Giulia Fabi, U of Ferrara; Margherita di Fazio; Adeena Karasick, Fordham U; Tarrah Krajnak, Pitzer College; Charlotte Nekola, William Paterson U; Victoria R. Pass, Maryland Institute College of Art; Amanda Salvioni, U of Macerata; Maria Anita Stefanelli, U of Rome Three.

These 44 short talks cover the seasons, all major holidays, and subjects including baptism, Bible study, and evangelism. These resources are ideal for quick lessons or attention-getting visuals to supplement existing lesson materials. Just use items from your kitchen, craft basket, or tool chest to create lessons that fascinate children, illustrate a biblical truth, and deliver memorable messages your kids will love.