The Art of Jewelry Design: Principles of Design, Rings and Earrings [Hardcover]

Maurice P. Galli (Author), Nina Giambelli (Author), Dominique Riviere (Author), Fanfan Li (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

The process of designing jewelry has never before been explored in a book. It has taken the combined talents of three top jewelry designers, including a profess who teaches the skill to jewelry students, to create this beautiful and practical step-by-step format. Starting with a fully illustrated discussion of design principles and metal and stone rendering techniques, this volume then presents progressive detailed sketches and finished drawings of many varieties of ring and earring designs. From such drawings the manufacturing jeweler can assemble the objects themselves. This book teaches one how to create those drawings. "It is a book that I have searched for, in vain, for many years. It is both the first and undoubtedly the best, and will remain the best for many years. This book is destined to become the bible of the designer, the guide of the artisan, and the companion of the jewelry lover." Samuel Beizer, Chairman, Jewelry Design, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The authors are among the world's most highly regarded jewelry designers. Professor Maurice P. Galli is head designer at Tiffany & Co. and teaches Jewelry Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Dominique Riviere is the designer at GemVeto, a jewelry manufacturer in New York. Fanfan Li is a designer at Van Cleef & Arpels in New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bushwood Books (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887405622
• ISBN-13: 978-0887405624
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great for Artists, not so great for jewelers, September 15, 2004

By 

Gary E. Snyder "Lapidarist and Jeweler" (North East USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Jewelry Design: Principles of Design, Rings and Earrings (Hardcover)

The good: This book has absolutely drop dead gorgeous illustrations of fine jewelry created using precious metals and precious stones.

The bad: The book is targeted primarily to those who have excellent drafting or drawing skills, with very little to no instruction provided in developing the skills needed to execute the concepts in the book.

The "artistic values" are presented as matter of fact axioms, with no support or explanation. In other words, this is not a "how to do it" book at all. It's a lovely presentation of jewelry design illustration, but there is no teaching here, and no hints on how the illustrations might be actually rendered in metal and stone.

Nice "idea book" for manufacturing fine jewelers who render metal from drawings, but of little to no value for small scale artist jewelers with no drawing skills who render pieces via improvisitory skills and spontaneous arrangement of physical objects.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't spend the money, September 2, 2008

By 

M. Alonso-prieguez MD - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Jewelry Design: Principles of Design, Rings and Earrings (Hardcover)

It's a beautiful book but if you really want to learn to draw jewelry do not get this book unless you are an artist and can draw pretty much whatever you see.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous book for jewelry designers, November 10, 2011

By 

Charissa V. Wilce "artist/jeweler" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Jewelry Design: Principles of Design, Rings and Earrings (Hardcover)

This book doesn't explain how to paint with gouache or how to render 3D objects in perspective--if you're looking for that, you want this book: [...]. However if you are a designer looking for some great references for classic jewelry designs and a general idea of how to take a design from rough to finished rendering, this is a great book for that. Jewelry rendering is a dying skill and this book is a great example of why it should still be taught!