From modest beginnings in Paris to predominance in the world of high fashion, the rise of the house of Cartier is comprehensively chronicled in this lavish volume. In the 1980s Cartier granted Hans Nadelhoffer exclusive access to its archives in order to write the definitive history. Long out of print, Nadelhoffer's exhaustive research has been revived with lush new photography and design sketches of the world's most distinctive and finely crafted jewelry. Through charming and compelling anecdotes, these famed gemsand the elite clientele who don themare brought to life. This fully illustrated account is the essential complement to any jewelry lover's collection, and will satisfy the longings of all those who covet this legendary brand.

Suzanne Belperron (1900-1983) is one of the twentieth century's greatest jewellers; she is now achieving near iconic status in the jewellery world and in the auction rooms. Her reputation is as high as that of any of the great French Art Deco jewellers. Amazingly, she never signed her work, considering it so distinctive that it was instantly recognisable. She worked first for the famous firm of Rene Boivin, but in her thirties was encouraged by admirers to set up on her own. She opened a tiny shop on the Rue de Chateaudon and began selling her new designs, which were totally in vogue with modern taste and lusted after by a young and hip generation. It seemed destined that no book would ever be devoted to her work because it was thought that her archive was destroyed in a fire. However, the discovery of that archive has made this book possible. It has revealed all the drawings for her jewellery as well as order books containing a who's who of names of her customers. These ranged from royalty like the Duchess of Windsor to writers like Colette, to famous stars like Frank Sinatra. Her fame spread wide and her pieces were constantly illustrated in magazines like Vogue as well as featured on the big screen in Hollywood movies. A forthcoming sale of a huge amount of her work (Sothebys 2011) has resulted in a great number of exceptional photographs, which illustrate this book. Dedicated to the distinctive and highly imaginative works of Suzanne Belperron, one of the pioneers of modern jewellery ILLUSTRATIONS: 250 colour illustrations

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Learn more than 6000 French words and phrases with this easy to use dictionary that features illustrations of objects and scenes from everyday life.

We are all fascinated by the mystery of metamorphosis – of the caterpillar that transforms itself into a butterfly. Their bodies have almost nothing in common. They don’t share the same world: one crawls on the ground and the other flutters its wings in the air. And yet they are one and the same life. Emanuele Coccia argues that metamorphosis – the phenomenon that allows the same life to subsist in disparate bodies – is the relationship that binds all species together and unites the living with the non-living. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, plants, animals: they are all one and the same life. Each species, including the human species, is the metamorphosis of all those that preceded it – the same life, cobbling together a new body and a new form in order to exist differently. And there is no opposition between the living and the non-living: life is always the reincarnation of the non-living, a carnival of the telluric substance of a planet – the Earth – that continually draws new faces and new ways of being out of even the smallest particle of its disparate body. By highlighting what joins humans together with other forms of life, Coccia’s brilliant reflection on metamorphosis encourages us to abandon our view of the human species as static and independent and to recognize instead that we are part of a much larger and interconnected form of life.