Jewelry: From Antiquity to the Present (World of Art) Paperback – Illustrated, May 17, 1996

This is probably the best general overview one could ask of the subject of jewelry history. Starting around 30,000 BC and ending around 1988, the book (printed 1996) covers a wide variety of styles and eras. It is lavishly illustrated in color and b/w, with excellent detail. Of course, being that it is only 200 pp or so, it's not going to be able to go in depth anywhere, but it still manages to get its points across regarding trends, technology, and sociology and how they all affected jewelry styles.The halfway point in this book is the Elizabethan era, so the entire latter half of the book falls outside SCA period. Very little indeed covers the period I'm most interested in, Italy of the 15th century. It also seems enamored with the "popular" eras -- little attention is paid to non-European countries once the Ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman classic periods are dealt with. However, it's still a fascinating read, and a great introduction to the subject. The bibliography is quite extensive, giving the reader plenty of places to take up additional study.In summary, I would suggest that any history or costuming enthusiast pick this up.

It just arrived but I can't wait to read it all. I start to read and it has a history, and beautiful full color pictures and also in black and white. Every historical period has a picture example the you can see the style they use at the time. Beautifly edited, very good quality of white paper and very good pictures. If you are looking for history of jewellery whit a lot of full color pictures and historical examples you will be not disappointed. The value is great, very good book for a cheap price. Love it.

The images are very nice, most in B&W, but you can easily see the amazing details from each piece.The pages are bright and colorfull.

This book is very interesting, I really enjoyed it. I was hoping to get more information on Scandinavian jewelry but overall I learned a lot from it. The pictures are very nice and lots of them. Thank you!

This is the case of a rare book that can make a synthesis so well made ​​and with such a wide temporal spectrum. A must have for anyone working in / studying fashion.

Nice reference book in excellent shape. Thank You!!!

This is a great book for people making jewelry as it has lots of beautiful pictures for inspiration. There's also a lot of good information about jewelry from the past.

This book contains a lot of information especially for the amateur who wants a comprehensive knowledge of jewelry through the years. A recommended read!