Books & Exhibitions

Jewelry Tells-All in Carol Woolton’s New Book

M.J. Rose reviews ‘If Jewels Could Talk’

by M. J. Rose

November 5, 2024—Carol Woolton has been listening to what jewels have to say for a long while as a historian, author, stylist, editor and Contributing Jewelry Director at British Vogue. What they’ve told her is the subject of her must-have new book If Jewels Could Talk, which is available in hardcover, on Kindle or as an Audiobook.

Woolton’s approach isn’t one you’ve read before. She takes us on a journey through history via items of jewelry we wear every day: hoops, rings, beads, charms, brooches, cuffs and head ornaments. In each section we learn about cultural significance of the jewelry from every vantage point from superstitions to legends to wars, to news, to natural disasters to fashion. We come to see how humanity evolved through time and how changing roles in society directly influenced jewelry.

 For instance during World War II when women joined the work force, to fit in they started wearing more masculine clothes. Suddenly they wanted accessories that “embodied their newfound independence.” Brooches were a top jewel of the era shining brightly on broad jacket lapels. Nothing could be too big or bold or sparkly and designers began to have fun with more charming, whimsical pieces.

Woolton does an admirable job of taking us behind the scenes of the inspiration for many of those designers and more, including Verdura’s iconic cuffs designed for Coco Chanel. She recounts how the pair traveled together to museums around the world including studying the Renaissance jewels at the Treasury of Munich as well as the collection of Augustus the Strong and Charlemagne in Dresden and vacationing in Italy where they were transfixed by the Byzantine mosaic murals of Empress Theodora in Ravenna’s Basilica di San Vitale.

The chapter on charms covers everything from devotionals to warding off evil. These “tiny objects are the receptacle of our wishful thinking,” she writes and then delves into the challenges of many eras and cultures illustrating how particular amulets came to be. By the end of the chapter you’ll look at the bracelet you inherited from your great-grandmother quite differently and probably be inspired to buy a shell, a feather, an owl or an evil eye to help you face a few struggles of your own.

From Queen Victoria renewing interest in snake rings, to the Jazz Age birthing “knuckledusters” (or cocktail rings) to how the exile of Napoleon ushered in a proliferation of diamond aigrettes, there’s something to learn, delight in and be surprised by on every page.

Clearly when jewelry talks, Carol Woolton listens, and this romantic, fascinating comprehensive book has something to say to every jewelry collector. It’s a welcome addition to Woolton’s other books, including The New Stone Age (2020), Vogue: The Jewellery (2020), Floral Jewels (2014) and the Dolce & Gabbana High Jewelry (2023) and a perfect compendium to her podcast, If Jewels Could Talk, which she launched in 2020.

M.J. Rose is a New York Times bestselling author; her most recent novel is Forgetting to Remember.

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