Asian Jewellery: Ethnic Rings, Bracelets, Necklaces, Earrings, Belts, Head Ornaments Hardcover – May 8, 2012

This is a wonderful book. The full page photos are magnificent, and there is enough information in the individual listings in the back. For me, full gorgeous pages in color are preferable to a combination of printed explanations with smaller photos. I have a very extensive jewelry reference library, have lectured and taught history of jewelry, and have designed jewels as well. This is a happy addition to my library, and contains jewels from places like Saudi Arabia which are not generally so well represented.

A must have book on asian ethnic jewelry. High quality photos, wonderful pieces.

This is essentially a coffee-table book, with over 250 pages of full-page photographs (basically all in color, although some are effectively grey-scale) of pieces drawn from across Asia. There's a 10-page introduction, 2 maps, and about 10 pages of very brief captions - the latter at the back, keyed by page numbers; the photos are uninterrupted by text. The volume documents the collection of Belgian Colette Ghysels, wife of sculptor Jean-Pierre Ghysels, apparently acquired through both travel and European markets. Its main utility is probably showing the range of Asian styles, perhaps for getting someone interested in the topic, but there is little or no new information for collectors here. Just nice photos.

Good books, but the pictures are the same as in the collection of Skira books "A world of..." which I already have. So If you already have this books, you don't need to buy this one.

I should have read the reviews first. This is exactly the same photos as in the 'World of..." series of books, with a selection from each. If you already have some of those books then don't bother with this, otherwise, it is a nice enough coffee table book with pics of a variety of ornament types.(disappointing the book cover doesn't refer to the fact that these are from the Ghysels collection....)