The volume presents an extraordinary collection of jewels, jewellers and international maisons which, from the start of the twentieth century to the present day, have mirrored changing taste worldwide. It is a global journey which takes us from France to Russia, from the United States to Italy, from Britain to Germany and from the Netherlands to Scandinavia. The book closes with the new millennium, with the intermingling of art and design and the introduction of new goldsmithery techniques like 3D printing and wearable technologies.

Alba Cappellieri is professor in Jewellery Design in the Faculty of Design at Politecnico di Milano and head of the post-graduate course in Jewellery Design. She has curated jewellery exhibitions and congresses, including Titanium Jewellery (La Triennale di Milano Design Museum, June-August 2010), Paper Jewellery (La Triennale di Milano Design Museum, September-October 2009), Contemporary Italian Jewellery. Techniques and Materials through Art and Design (Vicenza, Palazzo Valmarana; Milan, Castello Sforzesco, 2008; Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum, 2008; Turin, Museo di Art Decorative, 2009), Jewelry and Design (La Triennale di Milano Design Museum, 2002-03), The New Italian Design (La Triennale di Milano Design Museum, 2007) and the congress on industrial jewellery-manufacturing districts Design andlor Jewellery? (2005-06). She writes on jewellery design for major design magazines and has undertaken research and teaching projects for major international jewellery companies. Her recent publi

"Adored by kings and queens, a symbol of the manufacture of ancient civizilation and the countercultures of the young, a constant inspiration for artists, stylists and designers, the chain is one of the most loved jewellery items of material culture and the most worn in the history of costume. With an authoritative critical essay and large selection of photographs, this book retraces the symbolic and aesthetic evolution of chain from early history to modern day and its intersections with art, fashion, design, manufacture and new technologies. A fascinating and skilfully illustrated journey that shows how extraordinary jewellry, able to link the past to the future in the same of creativity, beauty, and innovation, can be generated form such a simple functional element."--Back cover