Helen Molesworth

When Helen was six years old, she fell in love. Not with a person, but with an amethyst geode, the most mesmerizing, perfect, spiky pool of purple crystals she had ever seen. Hidden away from her little hands on top of a high dry-stone wall, Helen clambered up and broke her leg in pursuit of the treasure; rather than dampening her passion, it was the beginning of a life-long love affair with all things bling. After a sensible degree in Classics from Oxford, she headed straight to Bond Street, and began a career that would span the global gem and jewellery industry, from roles with leading auction and jewellery houses to academic posts. For ten years she was a jewellery specialist for Sotheby's and Christie's in London and Geneva, where she handled sales of global importance including the private jewellery collection of HRH The Princess Margaret in 2006. As a gemmologist and jewellery historian, she has since held roles as Professeur d'Histoire du Bijou at the Geneva University of Art and Design, Managing Director at Gübelin, and most recently as the Senior Jewellery Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She has continued her search for gems and jewels all over the world, from the ruby mines of Burma, the emerald shafts of Colombia, the sapphire beds of Sri Lanka, and salerooms and collections from Paris to New York. She is a Fellow of the Gemmological Associations of Great Britain and Hong Kong and the Society of Antiquaries in London. Precious is her first book for general readers.