cover image Masterpieces of French Jewelry

Masterpieces of French Jewelry

Judith Price, . . Running Press, $29.95 (144pp) ISBN 978-0-7624-2672-0

Price's whirlwind tour of French jewelry since the late 19th century coincides with an exhibit that opens in New York in September and moves to San Francisco in February 2007). But the book, peppered with vapid commentary from high-profile collectors, acts not so much as a useful guide to French jewelry but as a record of who has spent fortunes on gorgeous (and sometime tacky) gems. Still, Price, president of the nonprofit National Jewelry Institute, does exhibit a wealth of knowledge on the development of French jewelry. From the dawn of art nouveau (which she describes repeatedly as "sensual") to pieces that are clumped together as "Contemporary," the information is presented too quickly for the reader to absorb. The impact on art deco of the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb, for example, is entirely lost when a paragraph later Price has moved on to influences from Indian, Latin American and Chinese design. Sometimes insubstantial captions fail to explain much more than the materials used in a given piece, and the quality of the images varies; while most are crystal clear, some appear somewhat grainy. Overall, though, for its price, the book provides a primer on a sufficiently wide selection of French jewelry. (Sept. 22)