by Lark
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Product Description
What awesome craftsmanship appears throughout this unique volume—the zenith of an art that marries the world’s most exceptional gems with exquisitely-honed metal designs. Approximately forty of the world’s top jewelers present expertly-fashioned settings that embrace a diversity of styles and techniques, including pavé, channel, invisible, gypsy, wire, and tension. Christoph Krähenmann’s creations display a fabulous fusion of Swiss artisanship and American ingenuity, old world elegance and contemporary chic. Paula Crevoshay’s jewelry focuses on the way gems make light tangible; she is considered by many to be one of the finest colorists today. And Kent Raible finds his inspiration in the opulent, intricate gold work of antiquity. Whether encrusted with diamonds or emphasizing just one glimmering stone, all these bejeweled pieces are simply stunning.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Gemstone examples by major jewelrs, 2008-10-15
This is a book which illustrates jewelry with a primary focus on stone settings by noted jewelers. While a nice 'picture book' it doesn't offer much more; moreover many of the examples, or similar examples, have already been seen elsewhere.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Modern Masters; Tomorrow's Heirlooms, 2008-08-18
Looking for beautifully made, artfully designed jewelry made with high quality materials? Historically, a few big name retailers have provided leadership, but over the past couple of decades, the 5th Avenue jewelers that used to be the go-to stores have grown tired and complacent, their goods have evolved from innovative and exciting to safe and boring and the low and mid-range jewelers have followed their lead. The giants who built those legendary retail establishments are long gone and most of the famous names have been sold off to conglomerates who grow fat off their fading reputations. In short, they are no longer a solution, they have have become part of the problem.
The good news is that there are a small number of American designer-goldsmiths and jewelers working today that are producing tomorrow's heirlooms. They are the Rene Laliques, the Pierre Cartiers of the late 20th, early 21st Century. Unfortunately few are well enough capitalized to stand against the hot wind of hyper-babble that hammers the consumer with the dubious virtues of such artistic nonentities as Paloma Picasso, JAR and David Yurman.
A new book, published by Lark Books and entitled: Masters-Gemstones, Major Works by leading jewelers curated by Alan Revere will provide you with an acetylene torch to to cut your way through the junkyard.
Unfortunately, the book presents its own design problems. The title is unfortunate and the cover is a mess.--so poorly designed that it becomes impossible to tell what the title is, what the book is about and who wrote it. Well Alan Revere is listed as "curator" which means he wrote it, I guess, Lark prefers publishing books without authors, that way they retain the copyright and most of the profits.
Revere has made an excellent selection. He picked 39 contemporary jewelers and each one is a master. The common denominator, they all work with gemstones---a practice considered very un-chic in university jewelry arts programs where most of our creative artists are trained (another component of the problem, but I digress). What I found most exciting was that after thirty years of looking around there were a good number of artist-jewelers that I had never heard of.
I know and carry the work of several; Bernd and Tom Munsteiner, Michael Zobel, Michael Sugarman, Zoltan David and Stephen Webster but artists like Klaus Spies, Gregore Morin and Bayot Heer were completely new to me. What is really surprising, with perhaps two exceptions I like them all.
Revere's commentary is adequate but oh the pictures! Really its all about the pictures. Masters: Gemstones is a breath of fresh air blowing through the mundane world of American retail jewelry. The book provides a visual stroll through some of the best of the best jewelry being made today. Revere has performed his curator role to perfection. Some of the artists use traditional materials, some add the non-traditional, but all put their pieces together with sensitivity and panache. Secrets of the Gem Trade: The Connoisseur's Guide to Precious Gemstones
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
I never tire of looking through this book!, 2008-07-02
If you LOVE looking at jewelry, the editors of this book have done a fine job of curating a remarkable collection of work. The pictures are clear and close enough to see the smallest granule, some of the work featured in this book is truly jaw dropping. I love this book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
a show on its own, 2008-06-24
as a jewelry designer and craftsperson I was very impressed by the variety and quality work of my peers in this publication. Great book to have
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Masters:gemstones: Major works by Leading jewelers, 2008-04-21
Good representational body of work for 20 contemporary jewelers. Excellent photography. Decent commentary. Multiple mis-identification of gems. Many excellent ground-breaking jewelers omitted.
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