Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World

by Aja Raden

Overview

As entertaining as it is incisive, Stoned is a raucous journey through 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? In this brilliant account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and often startling story about our unshakeable addiction to beauty and the darker side of human desire.

What moves the world is what moves each of us: desire. Jewelry—which has long served as a stand-in for wealth and power, glamor and success—has birthed cultural movements, launched political dynasties, and started wars. Masterfully weaving together pop science and history, Stoned 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062334718
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/27/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	457,250
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Aja Raden studied ancient history and physics at the University of Chicago and, during that time, worked as the head of the auction division at famed House of Kahn Estate Jewelers. For more than seven years, she worked as a senior designer for Los Angeles–based fine jewelry company Tacori. Raden is an experienced jeweler and a trained scientist. She lives in Beverly Hills, California.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Part I Want: Desire, Delusion, and the Scarcity Effect

1 Keep the Change: The Beads That Bought Manhattan 3

2 Precedents Are Forever: The First Diamond Engagement Ring 33

3 The Color of Money: The Emerald Parrot, and the Making and Unmaking of the Spanish Empire 65

Part II Take: Obsessions, Possessions, and the Mechanics of War

4 The Importance of Being Famous: The Necklace That Started the French Revolution 111

5 Hello, Sailor: How Sibling Rivalry and a Really Big Pearl Shaped the Fate of Nations 163

6 The Old Shell Game: The Golden Eggs That Funded the Soviet Start-up 215

Part III Nave: Industry, Innovation, and the Light at the End of the Tunnel

7 The Boss's String: Pearl Culture, Cultured Pearls, and Japan's Race to Modernity 273

8 Timing Is Everything: World War I and the First Wristwatch 313

Afterword: Valuables 351

Acknowledgments 354

Editorial Reviews

10/12/2015
Jeweler and historian Raden discusses the intersection of desire, power, and economics through seven stories of some of the world’s most famous jewels. This journey through space and time takes readers through the purchase of Manhattan in 1626 from the Lenape natives by the Dutch for 24 dollars’ worth of glass beads, to the whole-cloth invention of the engagement ring “tradition” in the late 1940s by the diamond company De Beers. Along the way Raden shows how the importation of emeralds from South and Central America led the Spanish Empire to create the “world’s first interest-paying government bond,” in addition to setting the stage for colonialism. She also tells the story of how a diamond necklace, used as an emblem of Marie Antoinette’s corrupt excesses, helped spark the French Revolution. With these among other mini history lessons, Raden opens the discussion to a multitude of subjects including the psychology of desire and envy, the elemental makeup of diamonds, and the pearl-culturing process. Raden’s commentary on the often ugly side of human desire through the ages is consistently captivating, and her witty delivery makes the occasionally dry material shine. 16-page full-color photo insert. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

[Stoned] romps through the stories of eight jewels.” — New York Times

“A lively, incisive cultural and social history.” — Kirkus

“History enthusiasts will be entertained by Raden’s knowledge of famous names as well as her narrative approach to the topic. Occasional injections of humor will keep readers interested.” — Library Journal

“Raden’s commentary on the often ugly side of human desire through the ages is consistently captivating, and her witty delivery makes the material shine.” — Publishers Weekly

“Riveting, erudite.” — MORE Magazine

“Raden brings impeccable credentials to the task at hand. She also writes with a blithe and breezy deftness, peppering her narrative with snarky but substantive footnotes that recall the insouciance of Mary Roach. A gem of a study into all that enchants and bewitches.” — Booklist

“Aja Raden must be a kick at dinner parties … She’s also an appealingly informal, effortless storyteller, fascinated by the stories she tells.” — Seattle Times

“a populist history told with humor and great relish. . . . Profanely funny.” — David Duchovny, author of Holy Cow

“Money, power, sexual politics, and jewelry! Isn’t this what makes the world go ‘round? What more could I ask for in a book — Madonna

“’Stoned’ has its own special vitreous luster, just as any emerald worth its salt - an illumination into what makes us irrationally human.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

From the Publisher

[Stoned] romps through the stories of eight jewels.

New York Times

Money, power, sexual politics, and jewelry! Isn’t this what makes the world go ‘round? What more could I ask for in a book

Madonna

a populist history told with humor and great relish. . . . Profanely funny.

David Duchovny

Aja Raden must be a kick at dinner parties … She’s also an appealingly informal, effortless storyteller, fascinated by the stories she tells.

Seattle Times

Raden brings impeccable credentials to the task at hand. She also writes with a blithe and breezy deftness, peppering her narrative with snarky but substantive footnotes that recall the insouciance of Mary Roach. A gem of a study into all that enchants and bewitches.

Booklist

Riveting, erudite.

MORE Magazine

’Stoned’ has its own special vitreous luster, just as any emerald worth its salt - an illumination into what makes us irrationally human.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Money, power, sexual politics, and jewelry! Isn’t this what makes the world go ‘round? What more could I ask for in a book

Madonna

Raden brings impeccable credentials to the task at hand. She also writes with a blithe and breezy deftness, peppering her narrative with snarky but substantive footnotes that recall the insouciance of Mary Roach. A gem of a study into all that enchants and bewitches.

Booklist

10/15/2015
Raden (senior designer, Tacori) examines just how integral jewelry and the desire for it were in influencing events throughout history. "The history of the world is the history of desire," posits the author. Tales such as the pearl that inspired Queen Elizabeth I to take on the Spanish Armada, the Fabergé eggs that financed the Soviet Union, and the influence of Mikimoto's cultured pearls on bringing feudal Japan into modernity, provide strong support for this statement. A blend of history and science also foster thoughtful moments as Raden addresses the relativity of value and desire, particularly when discussing positional goods. While there are many other chronicles of jewelry, this one provides an unusual perspective by presenting jewelry as a key player in major historical developments. VERDICT History enthusiasts will be entertained by Raden's knowledge of famous names as well as her narrative approach to the topic. Occasional injections of humor will keep readers interested. [See "Editors' Fall Picks," LJ 9/1/15.]—Katie McGaha, Cty. of Los Angeles P.L.

Library Journal

2015-09-02
A jewelry designer and historian's account of how the desire for diamonds, gold, and other precious stones and metals has shaped history. Raden begins with the premise that "all of human history can be boiled down to these three verbs: want, take, and have." The history of jewelry in particular demonstrates this idea with exceptional clarity. As the author demonstrates, human history is really a history of desire and the way that desire has motivated individuals to want, take, or have precious gems and metals, as well as the wealth or power that jewelry has traditionally represented. Raden first examines how gems and metals acquire their value by showing the way people throughout history have looked at certain commodities such as glass beads. The beads were worth little to early Dutch settlers in North America, but to the natives, they were priceless because they were unknown there. The author then delves into how obsession with objects of beauty—e.g., the diamond necklace Louis XV of France had made for his mistress Madame Du Barry—has been at the heart of some of the bloodiest, most violent historical events, including the French Revolution. At the same time, Raden also points out that this obsession has also led to "surprising developments in science and in economic and social infrastructure." She tells the story of the wristwatch, which started with a 19th-century Hungarian countess's desire to replace a large stone in a diamond bracelet with a tiny clock. Considered frivolous excess at first, the wristwatch gained popularity in the early 20th century when soldiers found that it could help with the precise timing required on modern battlefields. In this well-researched book, the author not only narrates the story of the human addiction to beauty and its consequences. She also reveals the way jewelry "reflect[s] our desires back to us and shows us who we are." A lively, incisive cultural and social history.

Kirkus Reviews