Feature
Phaidon is pleased to announce The Jewelry Book, a decadent exploration of the world’s greatest contributors to jewelry. Journeying across more than 200 years of history, this collection spans everything from Chanel pearls and iron jewels at Hemmerle set with flawless diamonds to the Notorious B.I.G. and Greta Garbo, offering indispensable insight into the artists, creative houses, collectors, and style icons who have defined jewelry.
Edited by Melanie Grant, author of Phaidon’s Coveted (2020), and carefully curated in consultation with an international panel of industry experts, this survey provides an equally expansive glimpse into jewelry with discerning contributions by the foremost writers in the field including Sarah Royce-Greensill at The Telegraph, Anthony DeMarco and Kate Matthams at Forbes, Ranyechi Udemezue at British Vogue, Hannah Silver at Wallpaper*, Coco Romack at T: New York Times Style Magazine, Felix Bischof at THE WEEK Fashion, Tanya Dukes contributor to The New York Times, curator Emily Stoehrer at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and many more.
Given its ambitious scope, it’s unsurprising that The Jewelry Book encompasses renowned and more under the radar designers alike. Eminent creatives such as Wallace Chan, Elsa Schiaparelli, Suzanne Belperron, and Bhagat appear alongside such lesser-known trailblazers such as Maōri jade carver Joel Marsters and Winifred Mason Chenet, a pioneering Black metalsmith and designer. And, of course, no book on jewelry would be complete without pieces from the great heritage houses: Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Chaumet, Harry Winston, and Chopard.
This sprawling collection also showcases the work of celebrated artists, including Louise Bourgeois and Salvador Dalí, as well as archival illustrations, campaigns, and editorial photos by Irving Penn, Toni Frissell, Juergen Teller, and Roxanne Lowit among others. An introduction by Grant chronicles adornment through the ages and across the globe. She writes, “Jewelry is perhaps the most enduring expression of freedom that exists in material culture. . .”
A new generation of jewelers has taken up the call to break the rules as well as pay homage to jewelry traditions. Sustainability movements advocated by millennials, Gen Z, and civil society are fighting for greater care of the environment. A range of unorthodox materials are appearing in high jewelry, such as black sand at Boucheron steered by Claire Choisne, and wood, steel, and pebbles at Taffin orchestrated by James de Givenchy. John Moore is creating gargantuan neckpieces out of Morphit—clay mixed with recycled paper—and Joe Sheehan is making chains out of argillite, basalt, and graywacke.
Entries are accompanied by large-scale images that showcase, in lavish detail, a diverse array of jewelry, whether it be diamond jewels by Moussaieff and Graff, an 18-karat gold ring hand-carved by Haroldo Burle Marx, or an intricate pectoral collar by Azza Fahmy. Explanatory texts are also featured, delving into each entry’s relevance within the broader context of jewelry. A directory concludes the volume, complete with a selected list of galleries, institutions, and other jewelry organizations and destinations.
The book doesn’t merely focus on specific types of jewelry, it also highlights the figures that have influenced and reimagined the pieces they wear. For instance, an entry focuses on Beyoncé, foregrounding not only how she stylizes her jewelry but her collaborative work with industry greats, such as Tiffany & Co. and Lorraine Schwartz, while also championing independent jewelry makers, such as Lorraine West.
Filled with iconic and inspirational images, The Jewelry Book is the most comprehensive A-to-Z guide to the glorious, yet often secret, world of jewelry today. Boasting a cover with a luxe, faceted deboss on a metallic material, this is a shimmering tribute to the timeless artistry, beauty, and history of jewelry.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Melanie Grant is a luxury writer and curator based in London, specializing in the interplay between art, jewelry, and economics in society. With more than two decades as a journalist, she has worked at The Times, the Financial Times, Independent, Guardian, the BBC, and the Economist, where she spent sixteen years overseeing luxury content and photography for their 1843 Magazine. She also writes for Vogue, Vanity Fair, Tatler, and The New York Times, and has curated for Sotheby’s as well as Kensington Palace. She published her first book, Coveted, in 2020 and served as Executive Director for the Responsible Jewellery Council from 2023 to 2025 where she continues to consult.
ABOUT PHAIDON
Phaidon is the premier global publisher of the creative arts with over 1,500 titles in print. They work with the world’s most influential artists, chefs, writers, and thinkers to produce innovative books on art, photography, design, architecture, fashion, food and travel, and illustrated books for children. Phaidon
Title: The Jewelry Book
Author: Edited by Melanie Grant
Pub Date: 24 September 2025
Price: £59.95
Binding: Hardback
Extent: 328 pp
Illustrations: 300 col illus
Size: 290 x 250 mm
ISBN: 978 1 83866 778 8
To order: phaidon.com
