Rachel Church books and articles
I love researching and writing about jewellery. Here are some of the places I’ve published my work.
I’ve written for the Goldsmiths’ Review, Times Luxx, Findings, Gems and Jewellery, Jewellery Studies, Jewellery History Today, V&A magazine, Antiques Metalwares Society Journal, Journal of Dress History and Women’s Writing.
Books
Church, Rachel, Rings, London, V&A Publishing, 2011; revised edition, Thames & Hudson/ V&A, 2017
Church, Rachel, Brooches and Badges, London, Thames & Hudson/ V&A, 2019
Articles and book chapters
Church, Rachel, Gold Boxes in The Gilbert Collection at the V&A, ed. Timothy Schroeder, London, V&A, 2009, pp. 49-63
Church, Rachel, Why shave? A new acquisition of a pair of mid-19th century razors at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Antique Metalware Society Journal, Vol. 19, June 2011, pp. 46-49
Church, Rachel, The Reunion of the Totnes Rings, Jewellery History Today, Autumn 2012, issue 15, pp. 3-5
Church, Rachel, Totnes rings, American Society of Jewelry Historians Newsletter, Vol. 26, No.3, Winter 2012
Church, Rachel, catalogue entries in The ‘Golden Age’ of the English Court from Henry VIII to Charles I, Moscow, 2012,
Church, Rachel Writing Equipment and Women in Europe 1500–1900; Women’s writing; Volume 21, 2014 – Issue 3: The Material Culture of Eighteenth-century Women’s Writing, pp. 385-404
Church, Rachel, catalogue entries in ‘Fernando II of Aragon, the king who imagined Spain and who opened it to Europe’ eds. M. Carmen Monte Garcia and Jose Angel Sesma Muñoz, Aragon, 2015
Church, Rachel, Edmund Waterton and the V&A jewellery collection, Jewellery History Today, Winter 2016, issue 25, pp.5-6
Church, Rachel, Collection selection: A sapphire and its secrets, V&A magazine, Summer 2016, p. 100
Church, Rachel, Edmund Waterton’s Brief Career of ‘Pride, Folly, and Extravagance’: Collecting Rings in the Nineteenth Century, Proceedings of the 3rd European Congress on Jewelry, The Jewel in Art and Art in Jewel’, 2017, pp. 107-123
Church, Rachel ‘Methinks A Diamond Ring is a Vast Addition to the little Finger of a Gentleman’: the use, importance and significance of diamond rings to men of the eighteenth century, Jewellery Studies, 2020-23 https://www.societyofjewelleryhistorians.ac.uk/JSO_2021_1.pdf
Church, Rachel What’s in a name? Butterfield, Fountayne, Robinson and Boynton – using mourning rings to look at 18th century naming practices, Jewellery History Today, Winter 2020
Church, Rachel, Geometry and Spirituality: the jewellery of Melanie Eddy, Goldsmiths’ Stories, summer 2021, https://stories.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/geometry-spirituality/
Church, Rachel, Jewellers and the City: finding inspiration in the urban environment, Goldsmiths’ Stories, summer 2022, https://stories.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/jewellers-city-rachel-church/
Church, Rachel, Serious Play: the jewellery of Lin Cheung, Goldsmiths’ Stories, spring 2022, https://stories.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/serious-play-the-jewellery-of-lin-cheung/
Church, Rachel A history of political jewellery, Findings, Spring 2023
Church, Rachel Piratical robbery: saving the Herefordshire Hoard, Goldsmiths’ Review 2022-23
Church, Rachel What to do with your old wedding ring, The Times Luxx, 11 March 2024, https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/luxury/article/wedding-ring-divorce-ring-times-luxury-z6knv3pxm
Church, Rachel Would you wear a pistol on your pinkie finger? , The Times Luxx, 22 April 2024, https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/luxury/article/would-you-wear-a-gold-knee-bracelet-times-luxury-f35xnfgjv
Church, Rachel What are memories made of? Jewellery History Today, issue 50, Spring 2024
Church, Rachel The strange tales behind the jewels at the V&A, The Times Luxx, 3 June 2024, https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/luxury/article/the-strange-tales-behind-the-jewels-at-the-v-and-a-times-luxury-w6hgx0xkd
Reviews
Church, Rachel Take this ring: medieval and Renaissance rings from the Griffin collection, Jewellery History Today, Spring 2016, p. 10
Church, Rachel Storia della fibbia tra moda e gioiello/ History of the buckle between fashion and jewellery, Jewellery History Today, Autumn 2019, p. 9
Church, Rachel Rings of the 20th and 21 centuries: The Alice and Louis Koch collection, Jewellery History Today, Winter 2020, p. 9
Church, Rachel Platinum Jubilee: the Queen’s Accession exhibition at Buckingham Palace, Gems and Jewellery, Autumn 2022, pp. 41-45
Church, Rachel, Review of Bijoux du Quotidien: un trésor picard redécouvert François Séguin, Julie Rohou, Jewellery History Today, vol 45, Autumn 2022
Church, Rachel How does our Garden grow? The story of Hatton Garden, Vivian Watson. Gems and Jewellery, Spring 2023, Vol. 32, issue 1, pp. 52-55
Church, Rachel Crown to Couture: the fashion show of the centuries at Kensington Palace, Gems and Jewellery, Summer 2023, pp. 44-7
Church, Rachel Review of The Art of the Ring, Highlights of the Griffin Collection by Diana Scarisbrick, Jewellery History Today, issue 51, Summer 2024 (forthcoming)
Public Speaking
I speak regularly on jewellery –