Stoned : jewelry, obsession, and how desire shapes the world

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Raden, Aja (Author)
Format Electronic eBook
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2015]
EditionFirst edition.
Subjects
Online AccessFull text
ISBN9780062334718
9780062334701
Physical Description1 online zdroj (300 stran)

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Table of Contents:
  • Want : desire, delusion, and the scarcity effect. Keep the change : the beads that bought Manhattan ; Precedents are forever : the first diamond engagement ring ; The color of money : the emerald parrot, and the making and unmaking of the Spanish empire
  • Take : obsessions, possessions, and the mechanics of war. The importance of being famous : the necklace that started the French Revolution ; Hello, sailor : how sibling rivalry and a really big pearl shaped the fate of nations ; The old shell game : the golden eggs that funded the Soviet start-up
  • Have : industry, innovation, and the light at the end of the tunnel. The boss's string : pearl culture, cultured pearls, and Japan's race to modernity ; Timing is everything : World War I and the first wristwatch.