Customer Reviews

Jewelry Concepts and Technology

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are a jeweler, thinking about becoming a jeweler, or interested in how jewelry is made:

BUY THIS BOOK!

The price tag may scare some people off, but this is one of the best practical books on jewelry ever written.

Oppi Untracht does an excellent job of pulling expertise from diverse techniques from all over the world to combine them into a compendium that rivals any other. The chapters are sensibly divided in a manner that makes complete sense. The index is huge, detailed and accurate.

Oppi, our hats-off to you! Thank you for a work that can inspire any one from the absolute novice to the consummate professional. However, (Hint, Hint!) an update with pictures in color, and a well-indexed database on CDROM (with an excellent search engine) would preserve it for posterity.

This book is a must for any serious jeweler but unfortunatly the copy i recieved was 99% black and white the original was full of colour and is a much better book for the artistic types However the book i recieved still has all the pictures in B&W and all the technical info which is what i really wanted from the book, if you are considering buying this book i would suggest trying to find the colour version ISBN 0-7091-9616-4

I had been told by many people how great it was, but not until I had a copy in my own hand did I realize how much is covered, how easy it is to follow the techniques, and how grateful I am to have it. I bought my copy as new from a used book seller (A1) and received it in a timely fashion and in perfect condition.

Oppi's classic work covers jewelry techniques the world over and you won't find a more comphrehensive book available. Many step by step demonstrations by world known jewelers. Well written and photographed. The only shortcoming of this book is that its not up to date as it was published in the 80's and is missing information on current jewelry technology. Despite this fact its still sold for a rather high price tag which personally I find annoying. In my opinion the book should be priced more in the 50 dollar range. I wish Oppi would update this book as alot has happened in the field since its publishing date. Still, this is a highly recommended book and am glad that its in my reference library....Dave Stephens, Art Jewele

An exhaustive work examining more dimensions of jewelry fabrication than any other single source I've ever found. Though much of the information is obscure, that is part of the book's value. After almost three decades of jewelry experience from fabricating one-of-a-kind pieces to large scale manufacturing, when something comes up I'm not familiar with, this is the volume I reach for first. Perhaps the most apparent downside is that so much of the jewelry shown is arts and crafts in nature, as well as dated. Nevertheless it is a monumental reference particularly for serious students of jewelry process and technical information.

I wanted an all-inclusive jewelry reference. This book is just perfect! It gives me directions on everything along with lots of great pictures. I don't have a fine arts degree and have found this book helpful when I need some information.

Untracht presents an encyclopedic guide to jewelry making processes. There are many color and black and white photos and illustrations. These alone are worth its price.

With both design and fabrication issues covered in great detail this book could provide the primary text for one's education in this subject. It makes a great companion text to his other classic book, "Metal Techniques for Craftsmen".

For good reason this was the reference book of choice for students and professors alike in my program of study. It is my bible, although I have come to a couple of dead ends: I wish that it had information about non-traditional metals such as chrome, and that it covered health and safety/toxicity issues. I also wonder about the omission of any information on enamelling. Despite these concerns, this book is an excellent reference/source book, and is highly recommended.

Oppi Untracht "Jewelry Concepts and Design" is a very great book, like other books from this author. Oppi is certainly a great jewelry master. A lot of comprehensive explanations, photographs, monographic studies, etc. A must for a student jeweler. Despite, this book has to be updated with the most recent techniques in jewelry, but it remains a Bible, a very helpfull bench companion for the apprentice and craftmen.

'The Bible'!This is how we used to call this book at school! I bought a copy of my own and I can assure you will find any detail you can dream of and answers in any questions or problems that may come up in the workshop. It is really professional and complete. Some reviewers said it sould be revised; I don't exactly disagree but you know silversmithing is such an ancient technique that technology has little affect on it and contemporary investments are still under evaluation. With both black-&-white and colored photos, examples, samples of work and demonstrations by well-known artists this is a unique 'to reffer to' book.The only disadvantage: I don't reccomented it to beginers or you should buy also something easier to read, with less details eg Tim McGreith's 'The complete Metalsmith'.But if you are a professional I cannot imagine how you have survived without Oppi's Bible so far!