Book review: Jewelry for the New Romantic

Jewelry for the New Romantic introduced me to a designer that I didn't know before.  Nealay Patel seems to have more or less fallen into jewelry design when a business class he was taking in high school required him to develop an actual product for sale.  Why not jewelry?  Why not, indeed.  Nealay was hooked and has been designing and making ever since.

Jewelry for the New Romantic focuses on designs that rely heavily on beading wire and crystals.  Lots of the wire is exposed, so if you like the design on the cover of the book, this is very good representative of what you'll find inside.  Although there are only ten named designs taught in the book, each is expanded into variations so that you'll be able to make necklace, earrings, bracelets, etc from each design.  The materials lists are compulsively complete, which is what you expect from Kalmbach publications.

If you are a beginner and want to make your first few pieces exactly as pictured, the instructions are also complete.  If you want to just be inspired by the designs and go off in your own directions, there are suggestions for other paths to try.  The is a very pretty book with extremely pretty designs, great photography, and helpful illustrations.   

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