About this item
Both a history of fine jewelry coming out of Paris in the Golden Age and a tour through the secretive world of high-end, privately-sold jewelry, Diving for Starfish is a stylish detective story with a glittering piece of jewelry at its heart. In the mid 1930s, in the workroom of the famous Parisian jeweler Boivin, a young jewelry designer named Juliette Moutard created one of the most coveted pieces of jewelry in the world--the famous starfish pin--still sought after today by aficionados of fine jewelry. The starfish, created out of gold and encrusted with 71 cabochon rubies and 241 small amethysts, was distinctive because its five rays were articulated, meaning that they could curl and conform to the bustline or shoulder of the women who wore it. The House of Boivin made three of them. Two of the women who bought and wore the starfish were Claudette Colbert and Millicent Rogers. Obsessed with the pin after she saw it in the private showroom of a Manhattan jewelry merchant, Cherie Burns set off on a journey to find out all she could about the elusive pins and the women who owned them. Her search took her around the world to Paris, London, New York, and Hollywood. Diving for Starfish is the story of these marvelous pieces of jewelry and the equally dazzling women who loved them.
About the Author
Cherie Burns is author of Diving for Starfish--The Jeweler, The Actress, The Heiress and One of the World's Most Alluring Pieces of Jewelry, a stylish detective story with a piece of glittering French vintage jewelry at its heart to be published by St. Martin's Press on February 27, 2018. Her previous book, Searching for Beauty--The Life of Millicent Rogers was the first comprehensive biography of Standard Oil heiress and fashion icon Millicent Rogers. It is now also available from St Martin's Griffin softcover under the slightly amended title, Searching for Beauty--The Life of Millicent Rogers, the American Heiress Who Taught the World About Style.
The author's previous book, The Great Hurricane: 1938, was published by Grove/Atlantic (2005) in soft and hardcover. Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post wrote: "Her own very good book is sure to help keep the terrible storm in its proper place in New England's memory..", and Liz Smith wrote in her column in The Daily News that the book was "A must if you care about brilliant reporting..." "Before there was the Perfect Storm, there was the Great Hurricane of 1938. Cherie Burns's new book is not only a riveting and wonderfully written account of one of the worst storms of the century, it is a marvelous portrait of an era and a region. A must for all New Englanders and lovers of the sea," said National Book Award winner Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea and Sea of Glory.
Burns's first book, Stepmotherhood--How to Survive Without Feeling Frustrated, Left Out or Wicked (Times Books) has been reprinted by HarperCollins and Three Rivers and has sold over 40,000 copies in the U.S., England and Germany. It has remained in print for 20 years. Ms. Burns' work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, People, Glamour, New York, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal and other publications. She currently lives in Taos, New Mexico. See more about the author and the above titles at www.cherieburns.com.
