This comprehensive and heavily illustrated manual teaches the craft of jewelry making to students looking to create professional quality items. The author covers every step of the process, from creating original design concepts to fashioning professionally finished pieces of jewelry. She lists all required tools and equipment, explains their uses, advises on safe working practices, and then guides her readers through every stage of the jewelry making process in a series of carefully structured tutorials. Students will learna
How to start with an original idea, translate it into a workable design, and then use the design as a pattern to make beautiful wearable jewelry How to work with precious and semiprecious stones, metals, glass, plastic, resin, and wood How to present and sell oneas creations to dealers and wholesalers
Clear, full-color, step-by-step photos demonstrate the methods of fashioning metals by heating, hammering, casting, soldering, riveting, polishing, finishing, and adding surface decoration. At-a-glance panels explain how to apply the right techniques when working in specific metals, as well as ideas for experimenting with inexpensive substitutes before advancing to precious materials. Hereas the perfect book for transforming hobbyists into true professionals. It will also serve as a useful textbook for those conducting organized courses in jewelry design. Color photos on every page.

Learn all you need to know about the significance of rings and how to make various types with step-by-step projects. In this book, Jinks McGrath explains everything you need to know to make different types of rings - from plain bands and Russian wedding rings to tension settings and cast rings. Following her expert advice, you will learn how to make synclastic and anticlastic shapes, how to set stones, how to enamel and how to fuse and texture different metals. The book is also packed with valuable tips about soldering, filing, shaping and polishing, and entire sections are devoted to different types of mounts, settings and finishing techniques. Clearly illustrated, easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions make this book accessible and simple to use regardless of your starting skill level, and the beautiful photographs of rings from an international range of established jewellers provide plenty of inspiration for your own work.