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Brilliance! - Masterpieces from the American Jewelry Design Council
by Cindy Edelstein and Frank Stankus
Lark Books
ISBN 978-1-60059-157-0
Published July 2008 - Softcover - 228 pages - $19.95

If you love exquisite jewelry, unusual and creative designs, and/or stunning photographs, you're going to need and enjoy this book.  It's full of original pieces of art, all inspired by the American Jewelry Design Council's idea to ask members to "create a work of art based on a specific predetermined theme."  All this started back in 1995, and the first theme was Cube.  You can imagine that there was no end to the interpretations, so they did it again the following year, using the theme of Wheel.  This book is a collection of twelve year's worth of themes and interpretations, among which were Pyramid, Sphere, Flight, and Puzzle.  All jewelry had to be original and not for sale, resulting in collections which were exhibited at jewelry trade shows, and have become known as the Design Project.  Some designers stick to the concept while others just blow it apart and come up with their own creation.  These designs are truly works of art and I found them fascinating.  Perhaps not to own personally (well, maybe one or two), but perhaps to have enlargements of a few photographs to hang on the wall.  I particularly loved these designs/photos: Jose Hess' Puzzle on page 55; Paul Klecka's Flight on page 83; Cornelis Hollander's Fold on page 115; Chris Correia's Pyramid on page 132, and Falcher Fusager's Secret Treasure on page 144.  I loved seeing and reading about the artists too - I'd love to have some of their unusual jewelry (not part of the projects)!  What talent.  There are quotes here and there throughout the book from some of the artists - fun to know what went through their creative minds at the time.  Check out Paul Robilotti's "Key" design on page 50 - pure brilliance.  More information can be found about the jewelry business at this website.
Conclusion - A gorgeous book to ogle at whenever you feel like being uplifted.