I wanted to know more about Dina Level because her name keeps cropping up over and over again in the jewelry world. Conceived like a family album from photos, press clippings, and letters, the book ” Dina à la loupe ” (Dina under the magnifying glass) draws the portrait of an unusual gemmologist, a sparkling petite woman who has never stopped sharing her immense knowledge. In retracing the life of Dina Level from her birth to the 80s, Catherine Aubert (a former student) transports us into the world of stones. We witness the birth of the Laboratoire Française de Gemmologie in the 1920s. We go from her classrooms to the jewelers’ workshops via the rooms of the Cluny museum. We meet characters and luminaries such as Jean Vendome, Roger Caillois and Daniel Alcouffe, director of the department of objets d’art at the Louvre. A fascinating book for beginners and connoisseurs alike.
