Jewels: A Secret History Book

Quirky, informative and insightful, this book is an exploration of gems.
A chapter per jewel, arranged according to their 'relative hardness' on Moh's Scale:
Amber, Jet, Pearl, Opal, Peridot, Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby, Diamond. There are also a few dozen pages of Finlay's Miscellany of Jewels, which includes lists of birthstones, anniversary stones, and lists of other jewel related things, as well as a thorough index, and bibliography.

There are pictures - many of which are black and white and printed within the text, as well as colour plates at the centre. They add to the writing, but are not all of particularly good quality.

Each chapter explores the jewels origins, history, legends and superstitions, uses, and usually some sort of quirky story or fact. It is easy reading, it is interesting, but for me, I enjoyed it because is was well structured. Small details like the chapter numbers being the value of 'hardness' on Moh's Scale, and the thorough research into how the gems are created.

Some of the aspects I enjoyed were the places mentioned which I have visited - the Amber Room at the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, Coober Pedy in central Australia (for opals), places in Sri Lanka (for sapphires), parts of Burma (for Rubies), Western Australia for pearls, and the Hagia Sophia in Turkey, which has the personal connection for the author, as the stones in her ring originated there.

There are also a lot of references to books and people involved from Sinbad and Marco Polo to Cecil Rhodes and Richard Burton, and numerous kings and queens. Finlay does a great job of sharing the stories of the gems, modern science, the historical beliefs and the history (often of exploitation). She speaks to industry specialists and shares some of the details that, while perhaps are not secrets, are not widely known.

One of the more interesting section was blowing apart the curse of the Hope Diamond -deaths under mysterious circumstances have been part of the mystique behind the diamond - really it was just a ploy to beat up interest. The diamond chapter also exposes the fact that De Beers basically owns all the stock of diamonds, and artificially controls the release of them onto the market to maintain the high prices. They are actually so common that they are practically worthless - or would be if they were released onto the market. Not only that, but synthetic diamonds are also readily manufactured, and for all intents and purposes impossible to detect as different from natural diamonds, except by specialist means. Finally, now that diamonds can be synthesised from carbon, one company offers to make a diamond from the ashes of a recently deceased relative - actually from the ashes - to live on in perpetuity. I suppose it is better than Keith Richards achieved with his fathers ashes - shorting a line like cocaine.

So, after the education this book provides, when I am next in Thailand, Sri Lanka or India - will I entertain the opportunity to make myself rich taking stones back home to sell? Yeah - nah... I will continue to give that opportunity a miss.

Four Stars.