Verney Joailliers: Manages de Diamants (Book)

Vever’s La Bijouterie Française au XIXem Siècle was first published in France between 1906–08: it has been the bible of all jewelry experts, buyers, sellers, scholars and historians ever since. Only 1,000 copies were originally produced, and it has been out of print for many years, appearing only rarely in the auction houses where it fetches very large sums. This volume – the first ever complete translation into English – includes over 1400 illustrations: photographs, sketches for jewels and prints from fashion magazines. 136 colour photographs of jewels now in the Musée des Arts Decoratifs are new to this edition. All the great and now more obscure jewelers are included in the text and illustrations: Alphonse Fouquet, Boucheron, Falize, Froment-Maurice, Cartier, Chaumet, Georges Fouquet, Gaillard, Vever, Lalique, and many many more. The discussion in the text is not only of the individual jewels and types of jewelry, but also includes many entertaining anecdotes about the jewelers' relations with their customers and with society in general. Being himself a jeweler, Henri Vever...

A beautiful hardback book with dust jacket, both in very good condition. The house of Falize was open for almost 100 years from approximately 1840 to 1936, during which time it was run by three generations. For sometime their importance had been overlooked but now it is valued as one of the most meticulous and tasteful of jewelers and goldsmiths.Falize jewels often come with fascinating histories as thier clientele included people such as the Empress Eugenie, The Russian Royal Family...

Sotheby's Fine Jewels and Jewels for the Collector, London, 1992. First edition auction catalog. 81pp. with 330 lots illustrated in color, fully described.  

Sotheby's Important Jewelry, NY, December 5th & 6th, 1984. First edition softcover catalog. 501 lots photographed in color and b&w.