Verdura: The Life and Work of a Master Jeweler

The exquisite creations of Fulco di Verdura stand out from the designs of other 20th-century jewelers for their exuberance and refined glamour.

His devoted admirers included Cole Porter and his wife Linda, Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, along with prominent society figures such as the Duchess of Windsor, Diana Vreeland and Mona Bismarck. They not only collected Verdura’s jewelry but his wit and erudition were in great demand at their dinner tables.

Patricia Corbett documents Verdura’s fascinating career.
Born into the Sicilian nobility in 1898, he left his ancestral home in the mid-1920s, moving to Paris where he hoped to be a painter, but his true vocation was revealed once he began designing jewelry for the discriminating customers of Chanel.

The author has been given access to all of Verdura’s archives and has interviewed many of his surviving patrons. Wonderful colour photography, as well as illustrations of the celebrities who wore his pieces, convey the irresistible genius of his designs.