Jack Ogden is a historian specialising in gems and jewellery. He has a Ph.D. from Durham University and is an elected Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. 

We were proud to host the launch of his new book "Diamonds, An Early History of the King of Gems" earlier this month. 

The book covers the early history of diamond jewellery, the development of diamond cutting, and how diamonds were assessed and valued.  It includes more than one hundred images, from close-up full-colour photographs of historic diamond-set jewellery, to photomicrographs of individual gems and illustrations of medieval manuscripts, as well as diagrams depicting historical methods of cutting and polishing diamonds.

Jack in the Drawing Room at Goldsmiths' Hall