From a curvaceous collar to a deconstructed brooch,from a highly polished bangle to a rough painted ring--the styles, shapes, colors, and textures of silver jewelry are truly limitless. The 500 contemporary pieces in this book brilliantly illustrate the current and evolving vitality of top studio art jewelers working with silver, from Julie Blyfield to Fabrizio Tridenti to Adrean Bloomard.

How are today's metalsmiths extending the boundaries of what silver jewelry can be,creating pieces that delight and challenge both wearer and viewer? One has only to look at this juried collection for the answer. Honoring the most interesting work of traditional and avant-garde artists side-by-side, it includes 500 rings,earrings, brooches, necklaces, bracelets, and even a tiara, all beautifully presented in color photographs.

These remarkably diverse pieces have been chosen by award-winning studio art jeweler Talya Baharal."In this book, silver jewelry doesn't take a back seat to gold or alternative materials. Instead, it's showcased as it hovers on the edge of a golden age," she affirms."Two of the more significant directions taking place in the medium are unorthodox methods of fabrication and bold applications of color." John Iversen deconstructs silver into cracked earthlike pieces, which he then reassembles into a perfect circle, for instance,while Annamaria Zanella applies heavily textured enamel and paint to the inside of her pieces, leaving the bold industrial corrugated outer skin untouched.

Introduction by Talya Baharal, Juror

The Jewelry

Contributing Artists

Acknowledgments

About the Juror