The innovative designs in silver jewelry made in Europe and North America in the 20th century are fascinating and highly popular today. This new book starts with the end of Victorian styles, just before the turn of the twentieth century, and proceeds to display and explain the relationships in Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Mexican, Native American, Mid-century Realistic, and Modern Abstract styles right up to the 1990s. Beautiful color photographs clearly show the details, makers' marks, and fine workmanship that make each piece of jewelry fascinating to so many collectors today.
As a jewelry designer, I found this book to be incredibly valuable. While the text is not particularly well written, the photography is outstanding. Great detail shots. Many of the pieces have pictures from the back as well as the front, which is very valuable if you are trying to determine how a piece was made. Signature marks are shown as well. It is a good chronological view of the history of jewelry using spectacular examples of work. I learned a great deal from this book and would recommend it to other designers. As a book for collectors, I thought the assessment information (good, better and best) was without meaningful context and also had no monetary reference. Designers - this is a 5 star book. Collectors - this is a 3 star book.
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