I have about 40 books on jewelry and this is the absolute worst one I have ever seen.........what a waste of money! Half of the pictures are so out of focus that you cannot see any details on the jewelry, most pictures are in black and white, there are no dates, and any information in this book you can find in almost any other book on costume jewelry. I wouldn't advise that anyone, even beginners to collecting, spend their money on this book.........there are too many good books on the subject! Buy any other book rather than this one.