Customer Reviews

Fashion Jewelry to Make Yourself: Imaginative, Refined, Elegant With Instructions (A Schiffer Craft Book)

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Renate Bosshart wrote a great book--the jewelry shown is beautifully designed, with varied and interesting techniques. The pieces are shown as full-page, 4-color photographs. So why does "Fashion Jewelry To Make Yourself" get only three stars? Because the title is misleading and the translation is baffling.

Unless you are a jeweler already, you can't make the pieces shown in the book. The materials list that starts the book is vague and poorly illustrated. The photograph of various pliers is too dark and too small to see the difference between a round-nose and chain-nose pliers, and the names aren't used anyway. You are told you will need "various lengths and thicknesses" of "wires and threads." The diagrams scattered throughout the book are not consistent. Some are clear, others don't show enough separate steps.

But the translation is the worst flaw in this otherwise lovely book. The translator is obviously not a jeweler and not familiar with the tools of the trade. But don't let this discourage you. The 125-page book has color plates on almost every page, each with a great idea. No shortage of inspiration and motivation here. You need a good sense of humor and persistence to work through some of the text, but it's worth it.

For example, it doesn't take too much imagination to figure out that "cloth bands" means ribbon, and that the German word for "bead" and "pearl" is the same. From context, you can figure out that "press-molded beads" and "callottes" are crimps that you attach with "pliers with holes." More baffling is the line, "Into the ring with a thorn, which can be hooked easily into a half-creole, you can glue a pearl. . ."

I've paid as much for books without such gorgeous pictures. When I'm stuck in a deisgning rut, paging through this book is a certain cure.

I hesitated to purchase this book based on a few of the reviews. I'm glad I didn't. Personally, I really like this book. If you are a novice and looking for detailed instructions, this book may not be for you. However, I've been designing and making jewelry for several years. I can look at the photos and see how an item was made. There are a lot of great ideas in this book. The photography is excellent. Personally, I thought many of the jewelry pieces included are very nice.

The negatives of this book are 1.) this book is a translation and some of the wording isn't exact, but one can figure out what is meant. 2.) I really liked some of the beads used, but, unfortunately, having searched many websites, I have yet to locate some of these wonderful items used in Ms. Bosshart's book. It may be that they are found only in Europe? And, she does like to use PVC bands in many of her items. This is another material for which I haven't seen much of here in the US.

Overall, I love this book. There are many different styles and designs of beautiful, colorful, and artful jewelry creations for which to inspire.

Fashion Jewelry was originally published in Germany as Modischer Schmuck zum Selbermachen, which gives you the flavor of this book. It is full of intriguing new ways to fasten jewelry. The author has a ready resource of fantastic materials from Gablonz Glass World in the Czech Republic. Certainly, after looking at the beads and findings, you begin to wish Gablonz was as near as Houston.

One of the simplest, but very effective methods of fastening E-beads together is with jump rings. The effect is delicate, but sturdy. This method can be used for a bracelet or necklace.

Another striking way to use beads is to put beads of different shapes on headpin, then loop the end of the headpin to make a charm. Alternate stringing a bead directly on wire with five of your charms. This gives the necklace a loose, swingy effect.

Many of the materials in Renate's book are unique to Europe, but don't let that discourage you. I caught myself thinking that I could make similar jewelry elements using polymer clay, although I admit to a sudden urge to visit Gablonz.

While Fashion Jewelry has interesting examples for making handsome and contemporary objects -- mostly necklaces -- the translation is terrible. Just because someone has the ability to make a literal translation doesn't mean they are competent to deal with even this minimally specialist technique and subject.