The book was shrink-wrapped, so I wasn't sure what to expect. After three flips, I understood the value. For $13.57 on this site (even the $19.95 cover is very rare for art/craft books) it is worth checking out. Text is presented in four languages (sorry, no Spanish). This all white book screams for clean fingers, so if you are in the habit of reading at the bench or touching a made-up face, don't.
What there is:
1) Full-color photography
2) 61 studio jewelers (multiple pieces and sketches from most) in alphabetical order
3) materials: metals (a lot actually), natural/raw stones, resin, plastic, pearls, felt
4) processes: traditional connections, casting, some laser-cut pieces
What not to expect:
The title is somewhat misleading if you are in the U.S. This is a wonderful European book, so I don't know if something was lost in cultural translation, but "handbook" often indicates "guidance" in the states. Please note: This is not a "how-to". There are no tutorials on sketching, nor tips on making the pieces. There is a light paragraph introducing the artist and his/her background with a quote from each on how/why they sketch or what it means to a particular piece. It is more of an inspiration directory. A lot of sites are included, so you can investigate on your own if you need more.
I would suggest this book to an int. or adv. jeweler as well as the curious collector, because it shows visual insight into the artist's process. It's like a mystery novel for artists (you can spot us at shows getting as close as we can without setting off alarms, craning our necks to check welds :D). The pieces are laid out so that the sketch is on the left and the piece is on the right. You can compare and contrast with ease and take note of what has been altered from sketch to completion and why you think so. This is an excellent skill to learn if you are serious, because problem-solving is CRUCIAL.
What I love about the selection is that you have a range of approaches from CAD, to obsessive rendering, to the free love approach, text, collage, and modeling (Ted Noten's example is incredibly simple, but so useful for certain work that you might kick yourself for not thinking of it first). There are some sketches that you can tell were reworked for an audience, some are outsourced, some stand alone as paintings, and others that are scrawled on three-hole punched paper. Some are just as bad as yours or mine. ;) If you find your sketch "twin", look up more of their pieces to see what it is that they're doing that you may not be able to translate as well on your own.
If you want an idea of what's in the book, look these artists up:
Susan Pietzsch (works on sketches with assistant), Todd Reed (ex: cover of 500 Earrings - raw stones and gold pieces), Arthur Hash, and H. Stern (not expecting that)...mostly experimental pieces, but nothing trashy.
This book is not for you if you are set in your ways re: new/conceptual jewelry styles. If you enjoy Metalsmith, Lark Books, Craft magazine, or many of the pieces from Oppi Untrachts's Concepts in Jewelry book, you will probably like it. Although there is little in the way of "traditional", the pieces are not simply concepts that can't work in life. Most of these beautiful things are wearable. JEWELRY DESIGN HANDBOOK - Jewelry Making - Metal - Design - Earrings'
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