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Australian director Ben Lewin's fascination and obsession with jewellery was spawned during the production of his film The Favour, The Watch, and the Very Big Fish. It all started with a watch that Jeff Goldblum's character wore, and from then Lewin graduated to 'celebrity watch consultant' status.
Hollywood Gold is a strange and alluring tour of the Beverly Hills celebrity jewellery system. It traces the hierarchy of jewellers from Cartier and Tiffany's to the smaller and more desperate 'Off Rodeo' dealers. Lewin befriends and eventually does business with Jerry Artin, a dealer whose ambition was triggered by a vision that eventually his customers would all be Hollywood stars. He's not quite there yet but is proud to show off his most prized customer - a Yogi who feels the price vibrations of jewellery against his forehead.
Packed full of amusing encounters between fast-talking dealers, celebrity stylists, agents and other miscellaneous Hollywood glitterati—not to mention the pressure and politics leading up to Oscar night—Lewin leads us on an engaging ride. Thankfully, however, we don't become as enmeshed as he himself eventually does.