Current Issue

Discover the hottest new gemstone, Sonoran dendritic, and learn how to bezel set one in a silver pendant - plus learn to cut this stone yourself or find out what you need to know when buying a cabochon. See what new jewelry pliers are on the market and find out what's cool about them. Learn how Pinterest, StumbleUpon and other image sharing sites can help you promote your work and gain new inspiration for your jewelry designs. Meet the inventor of fold forming, Charles Lewton-Brain, and see how this amazing technique has inspired other jewelers - plus learn the technique yourself through a mermaid pendant project. Make a silver metal clay ring inspired by nomadic houses while learning dry construction techniques. Find tips for cleaning your tumbler's steel shot and using a new craft knife on the market. Plus celebrate Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist's 65th Anniversary with two contests: a giveaway drawing and a faceting design competition, both with great sponsored prizes!

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Recent Issues

  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist April 2012

    Learn how to create four new exciting jewelry designs using soldering, metalsmithing, stone setting, stamping, riveting, and more in this year's April issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.

    Join the online discussion and get instant help from others around the world that share your passion! Learn tips and tricks from experienced jewelry makers that sell their jewelry, with just the click of a button.

    Discover what forming metal is all about! Learn forming basics from expert Helen I. Driggs with step-by-step instructions and photos that will have you forming metal flawlessly in no time.

    Create unbeatable contrast with your jewelry designs with Namibia's Pietersite, an exciting stone similar to the better-known tigereye. Then, use Namibia's Pietersite to create a simple, yet stunning pendant.

    Celebrate the heritage of the American Southwest with Western style with Deborah Yonick, as she shares jewelry designs by Roger Halas, Sam Patania, and Aaron Brokeshoulder. Then, create your own Western-inspired belt buckle using forging, riveting, stamping, and soldering skills.

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist March 2012

     

    Take advantage of Argetium Silver alongside Betsy Porter. Master this new sterling silver alloy and learn how to: anneal, make granules, fuse, polish, harden, and more!

    Use your new skills and tricks to create projects with step-by-step instructions that feature Argetium Silver: Use lightweight fused wire and granules to create a delicate pair of fanciful earrings and make a funky double band ring with a cool centerpiece using metal clay.

    Create your very own e-commerce site and learn how to stand out in a crowded online market.

    Discover surprising jewelry from the world of fine art in the article "Picasso to Koons: Art to Wear" by Cathleen McCarthy. Experience the beautiful jewelry made by the expected and unexpected artists including Yoko Ono, Frank Stella, Pablo Picasso, and more that were featured at New York's Museum of Arts and Design last year.

    Incorporate natural features from the mine in your next cabochon with a step-by-step cabbing demo!

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, January/February 2012

    Everyone loves opals! And we have three amazing kinds to tell you about including new precious blue opal and picture opals from Arizona!  

    Learn to cut a free-form opal and make a jazzy ring for it. Plus, learn tab setting as you make a copper and fossil coral pendant; learn bezel setting as you make a coquina pendant -- and learn all about this earthy, patterned stone, plus another graphic-patterned gem called Chinese writing stone.

    Master overlay soldering as you create a multi-gem pendant with partial bezels. Plus, discover the most frequently asked soldering questions, and have them answered by soldering pro Lexi Erickson!

    Discover designer gem sets that play the sparkle of faceted stones off the natural textures of cabochon gems. Find great tips for getting the most from your facet rough by learning when and where to saw it into smaller pieces, and revisit the Swirl Step Cut, now updated with the help of GemCad.

    And find all the tools, supplies, and services you need for jewelry making, gem cutting, selling your jewelry and gems in the Annual Buyers’ Directory inside this issue!

     

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, December 2011

    Learn how to set gems in new fascinating ways and practice your skills by creating stunning designs with the December issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist.

    Prepare for the holidays with 5 projects that are perfect for gift giving! Learn how to make easy yet sophisticated holiday-tree earrings, create a sparkling crystal cross pendant using a pastel quartz gemstone, use a classic spring mechanism to create pretty pins, and more!

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, November 2011

    Create your perfect workspace and with easy ways to keep your favorite tools at hand in the November issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist. Go inside the studio of noted goldsmith Michael David Sturlin for expert tips and tricks to arrange your tools, storage areas, and work surfaces.  

    Learn the 12 basic files that allow you to finish jewelry with finesse!

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, September/October 2011

    Score! The September/October issue is the Special Jewelry Design Issue. With this issue you'll have the opportunity to discover 5 artists and their signature styles. Plus, you'll be able to add some more experience to your jewelry making resume with their special tools and remarkable techniques.

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, August 2011

    The August issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist will help you start designing outside your box with tips for a successful partnership. Create resin jewelry with demos for earrings and pendants. Take a look at Topaz with expert dos and don'ts. PLUS . . . Learn one of the most important tricks-how to fix your soldering mistakes!

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, July 2011

    The July issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist is just like the weather, hot, hot, hot! Covering so many topics including mandrels, alabaster, mokumé snakes, and copper, you'll be hooked by the first page. Learn all about ring and bracelet mandrels for an easy way to form your metal. From plastic and wood to grooved and tapered, discover which to use and how to use it. Then, put your mandrel knowledge to use while creating a stunning copper cuff with a silver inlay. With step-by-step up-close photos you will be sure to master this jewelry project in no-time.

     

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, May/June 2011

    Discover the 5 essential secrets to successful soldering and practice on 3 easy silver rings. Learn to set pearls with pegs in silver wire and sheet design for a pendant plus earrings - and find out why South Sea pearls enjoy such a great reputation. Find out how to make a corrugated copper pendant with a hydraulic press and how to corrugate metal with pliers and other hand tools, too. Shape a bargain bin agate slab into disks, drill them, and make silver hangers for a pair of dramatic earring - and learn why lapidaries love Montana agate.

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, April 2011

    Learn the differences among jewelry torches and fuels and the flames they produce. Share what you know about jewelry making with others in online tutorials as a way of driving traffic to your online jewelry store. Make a dynamic, hinged silver pendant and learn to set faceted stones in your own cabochon, or use a purchaed one.  Learn how to form metal with metal and non-metal stakes and how to create fabulous texture while making an elegant silver cuff. Find out why top jewelry designers are working with fossil ivory and learn how to stabilize this material for bead making, plus see what one lapidary and goldsmith is doing with agate fossils.

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, March 2011

    At last! A portable, hand-held jeweler's torch that burns hot enough to solder sizable pieces of silver: see the results of a test-drive we put this new torch through. Learn what you need to set up your own jewelry soldering station. Discover wavellite as a gem and make a mixed metal pendant with it. Make easy Steampunk wired earrings, see what other artists are doing with this style, and learn what you need to know to work with copper and its most popular alloys, brass and bronze.

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  • Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist January/February 2011

    Discover the world of designer gems, fabulous one-of-a-kind cuts and unusual materials that can make your custom jewelry stand out: find gem designers, learn what to look for when you buy, and what setting skills you’ll need to set these outstanding stones. Learn basic gem carving and stone polishing using the jeweler’s mainstay equipment, the flex shaft, and see what new products are on the market for stone cutting.

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