"I've always wanted a sparkly of my very own:" The Gems and Treasures of Queen Victoria

I was drawn to this massive, heavy, beautifully-formatted text when I opened a copy in a bookstore and saw the Timur Ruby.

I don't consider myself overly materialistic or easily stirred by objects, but there is something magnetic about gems and precious stones. Maybe its the way that color wells in their depths, seeming like it could stain your hands. Or, maybe it's their power over light, the way they can call it in and disperse it in colored fragments. There's just something about a sparkly...

I own only a few pieces of jewelry, but I love to look at collections of jewels or gems in museums and the Timur diamond was enough to make me page through the remainder of Marsden's work. I'm glad I did! As I said, the book is beautiful, but it also does an excellent job of illuminating Victoria and Albert's affection (however odd it seems to modern sensibilities) and their regard for each other. I always wish, reading about them, that such regard had extended to their children, but what can you do?