Wrapped in Gems: 40 Elegant Designs for Wire-Wrapped Gemstone Jewelry [Paperback]

Mai Sato-Flores (Author), Jesse Flores (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 2008

Few people would argue against the beauty and appeal of gemstone jewelry, but some jewelry makers find themselves intimidated by the thought of working with these precious stones. With Wrapped in Gems, even inexperienced jewelry makers can learn to fashion their own beautiful gemstone creations using Mai Sato-Flores’s preferred techniques of wire wrapping and working with chain. This method allows gems to hang so that light can shine through and show off their natural beauty.

For the jewelry maker, inspiration can be found anywhere, but the exquisite beauty of nature is a favorite source. Take a moment to study the leaves of a tree or plant—the contours of a leaf suggest a shape for a pendant, the perfect combination of colors in the leaves and flowers hint at a color palette of precious gemstones to mimic it. The branches and twigs, the patterns of leaf growth, even the shape of the tree or plant itself can inspire ideas for earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and rings. Wrapped in Gems shows you how to interpret all that you see in nature to create jewelry with wire, chains, and beautiful gemstones.

New York City–based jewelry designer Mai Sato-Flores is inspired by nature wherever she goes—be it the supermarket, Central Park, or right outside her door. In Wrapped in Gems, she shares the secrets of her work and the natural elements that inspire it. After demonstrating how gemstones and wire can be used to recreate the patterns and designs of nature, Mai provides instructions for 40 elegant pieces of gemstone jewelry from her own collections.

With a comprehensive guide to gemstones and detailed instructions on innovative wire wrapping, chain, and other jewelry-making techniques—as well as an informative resource guide to buying gemstones—Wrapped in Gems is a valuable addition to any jewelry maker’s bookshelf.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MAI SATO-FLORES is a featured designer at Seigo on Madison Avenue, as well as at EDGEnyNOHO. Visit her at maiflores.com

JESSE FLORES provides the marketing and public relations work for Mai Flores New York, the business he and Mai share.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Potter Craft; Original edition (December 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307408469
• ISBN-13: 978-0307408464
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.4 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, December 3, 2008

By 

enkidu (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wrapped in Gems: 40 Elegant Designs for Wire-Wrapped Gemstone Jewelry (Paperback)

I was eagerly awaiting this book for many months (particularly because of the front cover, it is a technique I've been wanting to learn). BOY WAS I DISAPPOINTED! The first 82 pages were full page pictures of each piece. Book seemed more like a catalog of the author's work and not a learning guide. Don't get me wrong the pictures are gorgeous, but once you get to the instructions there are no pictures save for an itty bitty little picture up in the corner of the project. Personally I like to see a few step by step pictures to show concepts and this book has none. I was expecting a bit more advanced instructional guide on some new techniques. This is just another wire wrapping book, going through the same old techniques and basics. Not really a unique book at all. I'd say it would have been more worth while if the entire book was just full page pictures of the artist's work and it was marketed as a coffee table book, not a craft book. There are one or two projects that stood out and some had line drawings, but 95% of the pieces are simple wire work. Any jeweler who has picked up a pair of pliers and wire has already done these. If you need a pretty coffee table 'jewelry catalog' type book this is a great bet otherwise...PASS.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful designs but lacks in instruction, December 9, 2008

By 

k from chicago - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wrapped in Gems: 40 Elegant Designs for Wire-Wrapped Gemstone Jewelry (Paperback)

I have to agree with the first reviewer whose comments are almost exactly my own. I could not wait to get this book, the designs were very nice in the sample pages that I saw. Once I got it I was pretty dissappointed with the books instructional content. This book had some gorgeous pictures of Mai's work and lots of insight into how she designs and what each piece means to her. That's great, but I wasn't really looking to get more information on the artist (sorry), I wanted to learn some of the techniques. Most of the book is pictures of the finished projects then you have to go to the back and find the instructions. On the instruction page there is only a small picture of the finished piece and then numbered step by step instructions in text only. Most of the steps are pretty straightforward but there are a few tricky ones that would have warranted a picture to illustrate how to do it. Also, there is no "back reference" in the instructions, i.e. I wish it gave the page number of the full picture of the work so I can go back easily and look at it to try to figure out the text instructions. She does offer clear directions on some simple things like closed loops as well as details on tools and gemstones in general. As the other reviewer said, this would make a great coffee table book about the artist rather than an instructional guide.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful designs but lacking a detail, December 12, 2008

By 

Jean Leslie "Jbyrd" (Delaware, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wrapped in Gems: 40 Elegant Designs for Wire-Wrapped Gemstone Jewelry (Paperback)

I was so looking foward to this book, especially after visiting the author's website and seeing samples of her beautiful work. Also, Potter Craft has a good reputation for putting out good jewelry books such as those byNancy Alden of Beadworks. (Simply Pearls, Simply Silver/Simply Gold and a Touch of Glass).

It's getting 4 stars for the high production quality instead of 3. Also, many of her signature styles seen on the website are in the book, which can sometimes be frustrating if an author doesn't submit their work for reproduction and learning.

That being said, book goes into great detail about the author's creative process but that same detail is not put into teaching her overlay wire wrap technique. Sure there are the basics on wire tools, chain, plain and wrapped loops but that's not what's needed here. There's also some basic on gemstones and types of wire. Using chain and wire linking are covered in other books.

About the emphasis on her design process, The first half of the book is a gallery of her work divided into chapters: Branches and Blossoms (inspiration from flowers and trees), Nature's Bounty, (fruits and vegetation, Creatures of the Earth, (animal life) then Earth and Sky.

Then second half is instruction corresponding with the previous chapters. The easy and intermediate projects are similar to other projects by other designers attaching beads and briolettes to chain. The advanced projects are the ones that feature her wire wrap style and in need of step-by-step line drawings or photographs. Visual learners (like myself) have to keep refering to the photographs of finished jewelry. Fortunatley, the photographs have great detail instead of "artsy" fadeouts.

I'm still keeping the book, it's great eye candy.