Sun Sep 15 17:51:50 UTC 2024: ## Jewelry Collector Kazumi Arikawa Releases New Book “Divine Jewels: The Pursuit of Beauty”

**Paris, France** – Kazumi Arikawa, founder and president of the Albion Art Jewellery Institute, is set to launch his new book, “Divine Jewels: The Pursuit of Beauty,” on September 18th at L’École, School of Jewelry Arts in Paris. The book, described as an “important testimonial to the vision and life of the collector,” documents Arikawa’s four-decade journey of collecting historic and artistic jewels.

The launch event will be held at the Hotel Mercy-Argenteau, L’École’s newest Parisian site. To complement the book’s release, the school will also host an exhibition showcasing approximately 20 pieces from Arikawa’s collection, on loan from the Albion Art collection, from September 19th to 26th.

Arikawa, a Japanese native and practicing Buddhist, developed a deep passion for historic and artistic jewels, primarily of Western origin. He has a particular fondness for tiaras and cameos, and at one point owned one of the largest collections of tiaras in the world. Arikawa acquired many of these pieces during a time when they were not in high demand by collectors.

His friendship with L’École began in 2019 when the school’s leaders traveled to Tokyo. Since then, Arikawa has regularly loaned pieces from his collection for L’École exhibitions, including “A New Art: Metamorphoses of Jewelry” and the current “Garden of Emeralds” exhibition in Shanghai.

“Divine Jewels: The Pursuit of Beauty,” co-written with jewelry historian Diana Scarisbrick and photographed by Nils Herrmann, features images and descriptions of 250 important pieces from Arikawa’s collection. The book explores themes of ancient cameos and intaglios, naturalist pieces from the nineteenth century, and more.

“For me, who has been collecting and studying jewelry for over forty years, as if on a pilgrimage guided by beauty, there could be no greater pleasure than if these works of jewelry art, in which master craftsmen have brought their almost supernatural skills to bear on exquisite crystals created by the earth, become an occasion for contemplation and emotional inspiration, akin to a prayer to their beauty,” wrote Arikawa in his book’s introduction.

“Divine Jewels: The Pursuit of Beauty” will be published in Japanese, Chinese, English, and French.

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