With the promise of eternity, jewels bestow gifts of adornment and beauty on those who wear them. Their value is multifaceted: intrinsic, sentimental, magical, human. Since the dawn of time, these few grams of precious metals and gems have acted as distillations of the highest sentiments and catalysts of the lowest passions.
Through its power and grandeur, jewelry has mirrored the human journey through the centuries, and French author and editor Fabienne Reybaud walks readers through all its facets while highlighting the world's most mythical stones and magnificent pieces, from the Hope Diamond to Elizabeth Taylor's La Peregrina pearl.
Extensively illustrated with atelier images, original sketches and colorful photography, this volume covers everything jewelry enthusiasts need to know, including the club of five and the four Cs. It is accompanied by an essential glossary, the best museum collections to visit around the world as well as the budding designers to follow and a buyer's guide to investing in antique and vintage pieces.
Founded in Geneva in 1839 by Polish refugees Antoine Norbert de Patek and François Czapek, Patek Philippe is the zenith of Swiss fine watchmaking. Their mission was clear: to create the world's most exquisite timepieces.
Patek Philippe excels in grand complications, with groundbreaking innovations like the precision regulator (1881) and perpetual calendar mechanism (1889). They've crafted iconic watches, including the 1926 Grande Complication, the 1933 Super Complication for Henry Graves, and the record-setting 2019 Grandmaster Chime.
With a production of fewer than a million watches since 1839, Patek Philippe's creations are coveted by collectors worldwide.
Explore these rare timepieces in Patek Philippe: The Impossible Collection, featuring exclusive photographs from prominent collectors. Join the world of horological excellence today.
In the early 2000s, the jeweler's renown, among connois- seurs, was inversely proportional to its potential for develop- ment. Richemont's acquisition of Van Cleef & Arpels in 2000 would give the Maison wings, wings that took it into the twenty- first century.
