"The history of human desire for what is rare, and therefore precious. What makes a stone a jewel? What makes a jewel priceless? And why do we covet beautiful things? How eight jewels shaped the course of history. Jeweler and scientist Aja Raden investigates our unshakeable addiction to beauty and the darker side of human desire. Jewelry has long served as a stand-in for wealth and power, glamor and success. It has birthed cultural movements, launched political dynasties, and started wars. The author breaks history into three categories -- Want, Take, and Have -- and explains what the diamond on your finger has to do with the GI Bill, why green-tinted jewelry has been exalted by so many cultures, why the glass beads that bought Manhattan for the Dutch were initially considered a fair trade, and how the French Revolution started over a coveted necklace. Studded with lively personalities and fascinating details, Stoned tells the remarkable story of our abiding desire for the rare and extraordinary"--Provided by publisher.

2017-02

Want : desire, delusion, and the scarcity effect. Keep the change : the beads that bought Manhattan ; Precedents are forever : the first diamond engagement ring ; The color of money : the emerald parrot, and the making and unmaking of the Spanish empire -- Take : obsessions, possessions, and the mechanics of war. The importance of being famous : the necklace that started the French Revolution ; Hello, sailor : how sibling rivalry and a really big pearl shaped the fate of nations ; The old shell game : the golden eggs that funded the Soviet start-up -- Have : industry, innovation, and the light at the end of the tunnel. The boss's string : pearl culture, cultured pearls, and Japan's race to modernity ; Timing is everything : World War I and the first wristwatch.