Brilliance and fire : a biography of diamonds / Rachelle Bergstein de Bergstein, Rachelle - 2016

New York, NY : Harper, 2016. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust-wrapper. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Literally as new. Physical description; xvii, 375 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm. Contents; The buyers: how the American rich came to love diamonds -- The seekers: how one sickly Englishman took over the diamond industry -- The lovers: how young women came to expect diamond rings, part I -- The show-offs: how a single stone bewitched its owners, and captivated America -- The optimists: how the industry survived two World Wars and the Great Depression -- The sellers: how young women came to expect diamond rings, part II -- The queens: how Wallis Simpson earned her diamonds -- The stars: how an advertising agency got diamonds ready for their close-up -- The winners: how Elizabeth Taylor learned to speak Italian -- The meddlers: how little stones got big -- The inventors: how to make a diamond (and provoke De Beers) -- The illusionists: how the magicians protected their tricks -- The masters: how the Australians democratized diamonds -- The stunners: how tough guys started wearing diamonds -- The critics: how a global crisis changed the meaning of 'forever' -- The innovators: how to sell diamonds in a (more) enlightened world. Subject; Design � Fashion.Diamonds.