Yvonne Markowitz Boeken

The story of a brand collaboration that produced a legacy of dazzling jewels From the mid-1930s through the 1940s, the collaboration of the American jewelry firm Trabert & Hoeffer with the Parisian house Mauboussin produced some of the most extraordinary high-style jewels of its time. Hollywood stars such as Claudette Colbert and Marlene Dietrich appeared on-screen and off flashing the firm’s historic gems mounted in diamond-studded platinum settings. Even during the Depression and World War II, Trabert & Hoeffer–Mauboussin prospered and expanded across the country, not only by continuing to supply stylish custom jewelry to celebrities and socialites, but also by marketing more affordable ornaments. Its best -known invention was the Reflection line of semi-custom jewelry--"Your personality in a jewel." Crafted from interchangeable parts, it made a bold new modern look available to a wider range of customers by allowing them to mix and match preconstructed parts with their own choice of gemstones. Drawing on historical sources that include part of the firm’s design archives, now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this book tells a story of design and marketing innovations, shrewd business decisions and adaptability to changing times that produced a legacy of dazzling jewels.

An authoritative history on the exquisite jewelry of ancient Nubia Located at the intersection of trade routes from central Africa, the ancient Near East and the Classical world, ancient Nubia ruled the entire Nile Valley at the height of its power in the eighth century B.C. Its neighbor and frequent rival Egypt called it "the gold lands" because its territories held such an abundance of the precious metal, and because its inhabitants produced some of the most finely crafted jewelry of the ancient world. This book features over 100 adornments and personal accessories from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which houses the finest collection of Nubian jewelry outside Khartoum. The first comprehensive introduction to the sophisticated jewels of this great empire, it reveals how Nubian artisans employed techniques that would not be reinvented in Europe for another two thousand years, and how the original owners valued such possessions not only for their inherent beauty, but also because they were imbued with magical meanings. Exquisite photography and an authoritative history written by leading experts make this book essential for both jewelry aficionados and anyone interested in the great cultures of the ancient world.