Brilliance and Fire: A Biography of Diamonds
“A diamond is forever.” Who among us doesn’t recognize this phrase and, with it, the fascination that these shiny gemstones hold in our collective imagination as symbols of royalty, stars, and eternal love? But who gave us this catchphrase? Where do these gemstones and their colorful legacies originate? How did they become our culture’s symbol of engagement and marriage? Why have they retained their coveted status throughout the centuries?
This cultural biography of the diamond illuminates the enticing, often surprising story of our society’s enduring obsession with the hardest gemstone—and the people who have worked tirelessly to ensure its continued allure From the South African mines where most diamonds have been sourced since the late 1890s to the companies who have fought to monopolize them; from the stars who have dazzled in them to the people behind the scenes who have carefully crafted our understanding of their value—Brilliance and Fire offers a glittering history of the world’s most coveted gemstone and its greatest champions and most colorful enthusiasts.
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REVIEWS
“Ms. Bergstein…has a great ear for an anecdote and “Brilliance and Fire,” her cultural biography of diamonds, has an exotic cast of inspired entrepreneurs, brazen chancers and misguided millionairesses…exhilarating reading”
— The Wall Street Journal
“As prismatic as a brilliant cut diamond…. This exhaustively and comprehensively researched book becomes more like a story rather than a lesson in the history of diamonds.”
– New York Journal of Books
“The love affair between Americans and diamonds has been going on for centuries…. From the Hope diamond to blood diamonds…apartheid to beneficiation…Harry Winston to Hip Hop bling, Brilliance and Fire takes a comprehensive look at the highs and lows of the diamond industry.”
– Rapaport
“Engrossing and delightful... Bergstein’s purview is so broad and her writing so accessible that her compelling exploration of fashion, greed, and the dawn of American consumerism should find a broad readership.