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    Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World
    Unavailable
    Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World
    Unavailable
    Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World
    Ebook740 pages7 hours

    Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World

    By Aja Raden

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    As entertaining as it is incisive, Stoned is a raucous journey through the history of human desire for what is rare, and therefore precious.

    What makes a stone a jewel? What makes a jewel priceless? And why do we covet beautiful things? In this brilliant account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and often startling story about our unshakeable addiction to beauty and the darker side of human desire.

    What moves the world is what moves each of us: desire. Jewelry—which has long served as a stand-in for wealth and power, glamor and success—has birthed cultural movements, launched political dynasties, and started wars. Masterfully weaving together pop science and history, Stoned breaks history into three categories—Want, Take, and Have—and explains what the diamond on your finger has to do with the GI Bill, why green-tinted jewelry has been exalted by so many cultures, why the glass beads that bought Manhattan for the Dutch were initially considered a fair trade, and how the French Revolution started over a coveted necklace.

    Studded with lively personalities and fascinating details, Stoned tells the remarkable story of our abiding desire for the rare and extraordinary.

    Editor's Note

    Diamonds and desire…

    This book gives fascinating insights as to why we give value to tangible diamonds and the history and psychology behind why the diamond symbolizes the ultimate sign of wealth. Spoilers: The diamond industry was basically created by one greedy man and two brilliant female ad executives. “Stoned” gives a thorough and engrossing background of diamonds, desire, and consumer culture.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateDec 1, 2015
    ISBN9780062334718
    Author

    Aja Raden

    Aja Raden studied ancient history and physics at the University of Chicago and, during that time, worked as the Head of Auction Division at the famed House of Kahn. Raden is an experienced jeweler, trained scientist, and well-read historian, and her expertise sits at the intersection of academic history, industry experience, and scientific perspective. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is the author of Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World.

    Read more from Aja Raden

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    Reviews for Stoned

    4/5

    67 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      this was a remarkably fun book! So much history in jewelry.
    • 3/5
      The author is a gifted writer and gives a superb history of gems and the human desire for them. I found that I was not so interested in a lot of it so, after the first of 3 sections, I selectively read chapters. But i do think it's a terrific book.
    • 3/5
      Fun, breezy, occasionally overreaches (as when it attempts to explain, in just one page, why communism will never work), but generally entertaining.
    • 5/5
      Great book on the history of gems. I enjoyed the history of famous jewels ad much as the history of cultured pearls.
    • 3/5
      Stoned covers a few examples of shiny rocks and why we love them so. It's written in an easy, breezy style, like you're sitting with the author for drinks and listening to her talk about the latest gossip. Sometimes that casual tone clashes with the material being discussed. I also could have done without the casual misogyny against certain royal women being discussed, but that seems to be standard.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Written in a witty and easy to read manner and imparting some very interesting history and facts, this is the type of nonfiction book I love to read. Starting with the use of glass beads by the Dutch to buy what is now known as Manhattan, through Tudor history and Queen Elizabeth's love of pearls, through the infamous necklace that started the downfall of the French monarchy to the Faberge eggs of the Tzarina Alexandria and the Bolsheviks. One of the parts I will not forget is the part on diamonds, the DeBeers monopoly and how it came to fruition, a monopoly that still holds true in current days. Diamonds are a girl's best friend, a motto coined by the advertising firm hired by DeBeers to ensure that diamond rings were a must for every newly engaged woman. What a snow job they did on the public and we bought it and still do. All out lackluster Republican candidates in the USA should run out and hire this firm. Thankfully, I myself have never liked diamonds being an opal and garnet type of gal. Anyway many interesting factoids in this well researched books. Well done.

      3 people found this helpful