Customer Reviews

Steampunk Style Jewelry: Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Necklaces, Bracelets, and Earrings

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm getting into steampunk now, and I hate to be the only person on here writing a 3 star review. I hate to be writing it at all, actually, as I tend to review almost everything 5 star, but I have to say that I didn't really like this book. Or, I suppose you could say that if someone gave it to me as a present, I'd say, "Hey, cool! I love this!" And I would mean it. But I'm not going to spend my own money to get it. My husband and I sat at Barnes and Noble together and flipped through this book page by page and picked the projects apart, but we weren't overly impressed and decided not to get it. You may want to do something similar.

First of all, steampunk is really cool. I LOVE it. But a lot of the stuff you see out there is just too obvious. Like, ooh, I took a chunk out of a watch and glued some stuff on it and added a pearl and now my piece is steampunk. Or gears, too. Like, a crystal with a gear hanging off of it--that's steampunk. And it is, of course, and it's super cute. But it's obvious. This is what I'm talking about, and that seems to be most of what this book is.

This book is great if you already have a huge stock of watch parts and other hard to find objects just lying around your jewelry studio. If you don't have any of this stuff, though, or are just starting out, you really aren't given any super good information on how to create neat looking pieces with stuff you may already have on hand. There are a few charming projects in here (crystals woven onto a filigree finding, for instance, which was brilliant, and almost makes me put a fourth star on my review) and some great and fun information, but over all, I simply could not bring myself to purchase this book.

If you want a book that will give you a lot of information on how to take separate items and put them together in unlikely ways, one that focuses much on techniques and in setting you up for making many of your own future and awesome designs, get Semiprecious Salvage by Stephanie Lee. It's not specifically a steampunk book, but with only a couple of alterations and additions (for instance... watch parts and gears!) you can make many of your own steampunk gems. I'm using the etching process alone which I learned from this book to create my own pieces for my steampunk jewelry. I'm taking watch stamps and etching metal with their images and thus creating my own endless supply of watch-looking parts for my pieces. It's great!

This book although short, covers the historical aspects of the genre with word and well photographed steampunk items. What surprised me was after showcasing a particular piece, they went through a materials list and a included a few pages on how it was made, in case you thought,"hey, that's cool, I bet I could make one of those!" Which is likely to happen especially if you buy this book. As a nice extra that a book like this should not go without, is a page listing websites on where to actually find and buy the pieces parts for a project outside of scavenging an estate sale.

In the panoply of mixed-media art books which make their daily arrival to bookshop shelves around the world, Steampunk Style Jewelry by Jean Campbell stands out as a fantastic, darkly glittering, slightly encrusted gem.

Though the main function of Steampunk Style Jewelry is to provide detailed step-by-step instructions for re-creating (or re-interpreting) 20 "Victorian, fantasy, and mechanical necklaces, bracelets, and earrings", (I'm just mad for the Minerva's Folly Cuff) and Ms. Campbell and her artist/designers do that with extraordinary exactitude, the book is equally striking as a wonderfully comprehensive guidebook to the entire world of Steampunk style from the general "community" to the specific - gear (my husband picked the Wrist-fired Gatling Gun and Lord Cockswain's Blunderbuss as two faves) and clothing. There is a plentitude of historical context, and even an innovative discussion of Steampunk's green, environmental bent!

The author enlisted the aid of author Paul Di Filippo (The Steampunk Trilogy) in an illuminating forward and includes among her designers Margot Potter, Barbe Saint John, Andrew Thornton, and Jean Yates. The eight gallery pages are just one more element that makes Steampunk Style Jewelry worth every penny.

Yes, it is a nice book. Yes, it was photographed in beautiful settings. Yes, it has enlisted the aid of author Paul Di Filippo to write the forward and several designers to show their pieces. It also has several gallery pages of photos.

BUT like so many of the other steampunk jewelry books, there are no clear directions.

If you already know how to use resins and how to tear apart watches then this book is great for ideas and inspiration.

Don't get me wrong, I love Jean Campbell's work (She is the one who said that Steam pink is Jane Austin meets Mad Max)but there are never enough instructions. I mean, clear, concise directions. The black and white pictures are grainy and not very helpful at all. I wish I could send the book back for a refund.

Like I said, I love Jean, but this book, like so many others of its genre is lacking.

As a steampunk jewelry designer for over two years, I found the book to be an interesting place to see what other people think is steampunk, but not much more.

The techniques the author attempts to describe in the book are often fairly advanced for a beginning jeweler; there are basic techniques which need to be mastered before attempting (or succeeding at) many of them, such as working with jump rings and wire wrapping.

Materials used in the examples are often difficult to come by locally, and often even hard to get on the web thanks to the insurgence of steampunk into the mainstream. The reader should be aware that many "steampunk" jewelry making items are quite expensive for what they are, also due to their popularity.

I was very surprised that the instructions (at least in the Kindle version) were difficult to follow, and the black-and-white pictures do not show enough contrast to assist in figuring out what the artist intends you to do next. The physical book with color pictures may make it easier to discern the layers of parts involved in the jewelry.

Much of the book is spent teaching the reader what steampunk is. If you didn't know what it was, you probably would not be interested in the book in the first place! Several famous steampunk icons are mentioned: Abney Park, Jake von Slatt, etc. All will be already well-known to anyone who knows much about the genre, so it is not revealing anything new to those people.

If you just want to read an introduction to the steampunk genre, this book will suffice. If you are an artist seeking great inspiration from totally unique pieces, it may not meet your expectations.

Beautiful pictures. Had some great new ideas. Not just about jewelry however. Some other strange steampunk items featured in this book.

Steampunk Style Jewelry by Jean Campbell is a treat. She is a lovely and talented author, who seems to put a great deal of time and thought into every book that she writes. Steampunk is hot these days, but this style has been around for more than twenty years. According to this book, the term was coined in 1987. So, what is steampunk?"Generally, Steampunk is a fashion, design, and popular-culture phenomenon that combines romance and technology." Jean was kind enough to show our Metallics beading wire in her book, which is a perfect match for this style of jewelry. We offer both antique brass and copper color beading wire.

From the back cover: "Steampunk jewelry pairs mechanical found objects with Old World Victorian-style filigree, charms, chains, gems, and beads to create one-of-a-kind pieces that marry romance, technology, and attitude."

In this book you will find:

20 projects
Projects that are perfect for beginners or advanced jewelry makers
Profiles of artists
Historical information
Fashion trend ideas
Ideas that define Steampunk
Photo gallery showcasing several designs by other designers, including our very own Jamie Hogsett

Buy it! You can thank me later! :)

I love this book! It is fun of beautiful pieces of steampunk jewelry. I just recently got into steampunk and always looking for ideas on my steampunk crafts. This is so beautifully done with wonderful ideas and pictures to go from. If you are into steampunk or vintage jewelry, I highly recommend this book.

As a newcomer to the Steampunk genre, I am on the lookout for anything that will help me get a feel for the themes and inner workings of everything involved. In addition to the steam aspect, I found myself intrigued by the vast array of jewelry and trinkets that portray the genre.

I found this book to be extremely well done. As a visual person, I was satisfied by the very detailed images and instructions on how to duplicate the items.

As a reader, I was thrilled with the sections that talk about and describe steampunk.

This may not be the thing for the Steampunk experts, but it is a fantastic place to get your feet wet and get a better handle on things.

I'm very glad I bought it.

Jean has not only provided an in-depth history of this genre, which makes for fascinating reading, but then she proceeds to provide us with a wonderful array of projects, tips, and innovative processes.

This is a wonderful collection -- and it is such fun to read, too!

K. P. Vorenberg, author of TIERRA RED