One of the most prolific proponents of revival styles during the nineteenth century was the jewelry firm founded by Fortunato Pio Castellani in Rome in 1814. During the firm's first few decades it made its reputation by producing jewelry that was in the style of that being made in France and England. However, in the 1830s Castellani was introduced to antique jewelry by the learned aristocrat Michelangelo Caetani, a scholar, historian, amateur wood turner; and sculptor. Caetani was proficient at drawing, and some of his extant sketches are designs for metalwork, particularly jewelry. For much of the nineteenth century the Castellani dynasty--Fortunato, his sons Alessandro and Augusto, and his grandson Alfredo--operated one of the leading jewelry firms in Europe. An exhibition that chronicles the rise and leadership role of the firm is on view at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in New York City through February 6, 2005. The show is entitled The Castellani and Italian Archaeological Jewelry and includes 282 pieces of jewelry, design drawings, ancient artifacts, and archival materials, all of which demonstrate the wide range of revival styles the firm and its European patrons embraced over the course of nearly one hundred years.
In 1832 the records of the shop, which was located on the Via del Corso in Rome, note a payment for a necklace "made in the Etruscan style with onyxes" along with other similar pieces. This was one of Fortunato's earliest attempts at reviving a style thousands of years old. Granulation was an Etruscan technique that fascinated the firm beginning in the 1830s. This exacting process involved the application of tiny droplets of gold to the surface of a piece of jewelry. Another painstaking technique emulated by Castellani was the creation of jewelry that featured colorful micromosaic depictions of creatures, figures, geometric patterns, and monograms or words, all created from miniscule glass tesserae. Castellani also incorporated cameos, scarabs, and enamel into pieces of jewelry as had been done in ancient times. All of this required meticulous craftsmanship, for which the firm became well known.
In 1860 Alessandro, having made critical political missteps, found it necessary to move to Paris, where he established a branch of the company. Other branches followed in London and Naples. Around this time the firm also introduced historically inspired jewelry in the Roman, medieval, Renaissance, and baroque styles, which was displayed in the great international exhibitions to wide acclaim.
An indication of the popularity of Castellani jewelry is the fact that seventeen craftsmen were needed to keep up with the orders in the 1860s. The Castellani brothers, long collectors of ancient art and supporters of archaeological excavations, soon decided to buy and sell ancient material. By this time, Caetani was nearly blind, and because Alessandro was not in Rome, the firm lacked creative inspiration. Thus the firm simply continued to make earlier designs, so that dating these pieces is difficult today. Despite a lack of fresh material Castellani continued to be successful until the turn of the twentieth century.
Alfredo, Augusto's son, took over the firm in 1914 but was forced to close it in 1927. His principal interest was the preservation of the company's collections of ancient jewelry and enormous archives. Happily he was successful, and the history of the Castellani firm is ably retold in this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue.
The catalogue contains essays by thirteen international scholars and is edited by Susan Weber Soros and Stefanie Walker. It is published by Yale University Press for the Bard Graduate Center and may be obtained by telephoning 800-405-1619.

Enhanced throughout with the superb color images of Auckland-based photographer Krzysztof Pfeiffer, Pacific Jewelry And Adornment is the collaborative work of Roger Neich (Curator of Ethnology, Auckland Museum and Professor of Anthropology, University of Auckland) and Fuli Pereira (Curator of the Pacific Collection, Auckland Museum). This impressively informative work of art history showcases 250 representative examples of traditional jewelry from the Pacific made from the raw materials of jade, whale tooth and bone, shark teeth, tapa, shells, and plant fibers. Insightful information is provided to the use of personal decorative items to reflect power, status and community, as well as their significance with respect to high ceremonial occasions. Drawn from the collections of the Auckland Museum, these illustrative items reflect the vast geographical areas of the Pacific from Micronesia, Papua, New Guinea, and Fiji, to Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii, New Zealand, and the Cook Islands. Pacific Jewelry And Adornment is a strongly recommended addition to any academic or community library Oceanic Culture or Art History collection.

Organized and tidy are two qualities many of us wish to be, but unfortunately fall slightly short of. It's easy to appear, or at least fake, your way through being organized with these easy polymer-clay jewelry holders. Create them in no time at all, and let the foolin' begin.
INSTRUCTIONS
Necklace Holder 1. Cut off two sections of the Black Premo clay with the clay blade. 2. Knead the clay until softened and roll into a ball. 3. Place the clay ball on one end of the Hide n' Seek Squares Texture Sheet and roll out towards the center to create a 3 1/2" X 1/4" thick oval. 4. Fold the other end of the Texture Sheet over the rolled out clay and press firmly. 5. Carefully peel up clay oval and fold up the end that was textured on the back creating a hook for the necklaces. 6. Lay piece on a mat board. 7. Apply baby powder to one of the medium-size faces in the Art Doll Faces Push Mold. Tap off excess powder. 8. Cut off another section of clay and then cut in half again. 9. Roll into a ball and press clay into the bottom left face in the Push Mold. Press firmly, pushing the excess clay out away from the face all around the mold. 10. Carefully pull up the face and pinch the excess areas until it is very thin. 11. Using small, sharp scissors cut thin strips all the way around head to resemble hair. 12. Carefully place face on top of oval "body." 13. Using the stylus, press lines into the area under the chin to attach to the top of the body. 14. Pull forward on some of the "hair" strands to add texture. 15. Using the small paintbrush from the Interference set of Perfect Pearls, dip into each color one at a time and dust randomly all over the entire piece. 16. Place on mat board and pierce a nail hole 1/2-inch down from neck area with the stylus. 17. Bake piece in toaster oven for 30 minutes at 275 degrees.
Earring Holder 1. Create a face following steps 7 through 11 in Necklace Holder instructions except press clay into the face and poke a nail hole near the top of the head before cutting the strands. 2. Roll out a thin "snake" of Black Sculpey approximately 5 1/2-inches long. 3. Place on the Retro Sticks & Stones Texture Sheet and roll out a thin "shoulder." 4. Place middle of shoulder piece onto the bottom neck area of head and press together using the stylus. 5. Lay piece on mat board and poke eight small holes evenly spaced across bottom of shoulders with the stylus. 6. Dip the small paintbrush into the Perfect Bronze and paint onto the cheeks of the face and some of the shoulders. 7. Paint Interference Green on the eyes and forehead and slightly into the "hair." Dust Sunflower Sparkle on the rest of the shoulders and a tiny bit in the hair, leaving most of the hair black for contrast. Dust off excess with the large paintbrush. Bake for 30 minutes at 275 degrees.
Earring, Necklace and Ring Combo 1. This piece was made using one of the mini faces from the Push Molds and creating a mini body similar to the necklace holder body. 2. Place body on top of wavy shoulders. 3. Press a silver spacer under the "neck" area. Press firmly to join the two pieces. 4. Use the stylus to poke a nail hole in the middle of the spacer and four small holes on the bottom of each shoulder. 5. Press small beads under the chin area. 6. Shoulders and body were dusted with the Interference Red and Interference Green. The cheeks were dusted with the Red, the hair and neck with Blue and the forehead a little Green. 7. Bake for 30 minutes at 275 degrees.

Playing off of this summer's sales flurry in metallic purses and shoes, gold jewelry is being heralded as the hot fashion staple for back-to-school.
Gold earrings, bracelets, necklaces and charms are selling in both fashion jewelry and finer jewelry. The earrings are incorporating popular styles such as chandelier and chain drop varieties, while gold bracelets and necklaces are showing up in trendy layering and multiple-chain styles.
The actual chain link varies greatly with everything from herringbone to figaro to snake link items decorating fashionable women. The lengths of the chains are also longer, providing more space to add wooden, stone and beaded accents.
Gold is appearing on the high-fashion runways of Dolce & Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli, the shelves of mass retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target and online at Target.com, which has popular styles featured as "boho chic" jewelry.

SKILLED CRAFTS such as jewelry making are practiced in many Native American communities in the United States. Jewelry making is culturally and economically vital for the Zuni tribe, whose work is known for its intricate designs. Inefficient exposure controls in home-based workshops may result in contamination of the home with byproducts from the jewelry-making process. The extent of metal exposures among home-based jewelers is essentially unknown.
Jewelry making is a potential source of exposure to heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, which are nephrotoxic. (1,2) Among the Zuni, the prevalence of end-stage renal disease is 6 times higher than in other Native American tribes and 20 times higher than in European American populations. (3) The severity and prevalence of renal disease in this population exceeds that expected from known risk factors such as diabetes. To date, no surveys have been conducted to evaluate the extent of environmental exposures, such as those arising from making jewelry, that may contribute to renal disease in this population.
The objectives of this pilot study were (a) to inventory the materials, personal protective equipment, and ventilation measures used by Zuni jewelers in their homes; and (b) to determine whether surface concentrations of metals are higher in jewelry-making households than in households in which no jewelry is made. The effectiveness of ventilation controls for reducing work and living area surface metal concentrations in jewelry-making homes was also evaluated. This study was performed to fill a gap in the existing knowledge regarding the extent of exposure to heavy metals and other potentially hazardous materials among Zuni jewelry makers. The authors hope that the results will aid in the formulation of targeted exposure questions and the selection of monitoring techniques for use in future population studies.
Method
Subjects. Participants were recruited from a previously assembled cohort of 1,500 Zuni tribal members who lived on the Zuni reservation in western New Mexico. (3,4) On the basis of data collected previously from adult ([greater than or equal to] 18 yr of age) cohort members regarding jewelry making, these individuals were stratified into 2 groups by household. If any household member reported making jewelry, all members of that household were included in the jewelry-making group. Otherwise, family members were classified in the non-jewelry-making control group. Twenty subjects were recruited from each group, one subject per household. The study protocol and informed consent forms were approved by the University of New Mexico Human Research Review Committee, Indian Health Services Institutional Review Board, and the Zuni Tribal Council. Subjects were recruited, and informed consent was obtained, by trained bilingual interviewers who were fluent in both English and the Zuni language (Shiwi). Informed consent was obtained from each participant after the nature of the survey had been fully explained.
Exposure survey. We developed a survey instrument to inventory the chemicals, metals, stones, and other materials used to make jewelry. Questions were also asked about the type and frequency of use of personal protective equipment and ventilation while working. The survey was developed with collaboration from Zuni tribal members who were part of the University of New Mexico field staff for the current study. It was designed to be sensitive to the tribal culture and beliefs and written in lay terms that would be understandable to the study population. A standardized oral translation of the survey was used to interview subjects who preferred Shiwi. Material safety data sheets were obtained from manufacturers or suppliers for each product reported in the survey, and product content and health hazard and safety information was extracted and summarized in a report for the participants.
All 20 jewelers interviewed (5 men and 15 women; mean age [+ or -] standard deviation = 43.2 [+ or -] 10.7 yr; average time making jewelry [+ or -] standard deviation = 22.1 [+ or -] 10.9 yr) reported making jewelry inside their homes. Of the 20 non-jewelry-makers interviewed (6 men and 14 women; mean age [+ or -] standard deviation = 43.8 [+ or -] 12.9 yr), 2 reported living in homes where another member of the household made jewelry, but that other person was not a member of the initial study cohort. These 2 households were subsequently reclassified as jewelry-making homes in the surface metal analyses.
Surface dust samples. The surface dust samples were collected and handled in accordance with standardized protocols. (5,6) A template was placed over the wall and floor areas closest either to the workbench (for work samples) or the dining room table (for living-area samples). A diagonal area of the template was then wiped with Whatman 41 70-mm filter paper (Whatman, Inc., Florham Park, New Jersey). A total of 715 [cm.sup.2] surface area was wiped at each location. Twenty-six wipe samples were collected from work areas and 22 from living areas of the 20 jewelry-making homes. Twenty-three samples were collected from living areas of the 20 control homes. Eighteen percent of the samples collected were duplicates obtained by wiping the opposite diagonal of the same template area. All surface wipe samples were analyzed for silver, copper, tin, mercury, nickel, zinc, lead, antimony, cadmium, and boron (a metalloid) by a single analytical laboratory using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. (7,8)

OWEN, Cheryl. The bead jewelry maker; stylish handcrafted jewelry to make at home. Barron's. 128p. illus. index. c2005. 0-7641-3192-3. $16.95. JSA*
More than 30 beautiful pieces of jewelry are featured in this well illustrated book. An opening section describes basic techniques, necessary equipment, findings, and adhesives, along with various materials used in creating jewelry--beads, buttons, shells, and different cords. Each project description includes a large color photo of the finished item in addition to a detailed materials list and complete directions. Projects include a five-row floating bead necklace; pearl and crystal drop earrings; a choker with silver spacers; a mother of pearl and pleated ribbon choker: a bugle bead bracelet with crystal drops; a rocaille round bracelet, and many more gorgeous items.
A special section at the end of the book provides additional information about decorating individual beads, making jewelry from wire, recycling beads and making beads from clay. A listing of suppliers includes both web and phone addresses, making it easy to purchase supplies. This is a wonderful book! Shirley Reis, IMC Dir., Lake Shore MS, Mequon, WI

Not long ago, Dogeared was simply one of Robin Kramer's favorite brands of jewelry. Now, as the company's new director of sales, it's her career.
"The whole thing was very serendipitous," Kramer said. "For my birthday last year I decided to give gifts to my family and closest friends. I came across Dogeared for the first time and was blown away by their Make a Wish necklace. It was simple. It was clean."
She bought 20 necklaces from Dogeared at retail in March of last year and gave them to friends at her birthday party at the beginning of June. At the end of the month, in a completely unrelated occurrence, a friend e-mailed her about a job opening at Dogeared.
"She said she was with this wonderful company and how it was ready to grow," Kranler said. "When she said the company was Dogeared. I called her immediately. After a phone interview, I knew it was the right fit."
After college in Boston Kramer moved to San Francisco because she fell in love with the city. She stayed for 15 years, working for the Gap, then freelancing for a year. After that, she got a job at an investment banking firm. Then she worked at Williams-Sonoma and Old Navy.
Most recently, Kramer worked as the sales and marketing manager at Molly West Hand-bound Books--a high end store founded by her best friend since fifth grade--which makes memory and keepsake journals, wedding albums, and baby books.
At Dogeared, Kramer is responsible for attending trade shows, overseeing sales, and hiring.
"We have such an incredible base of customers. What I'm doing is creating a bond and learning about them so we can service them better."
Kramer lives in Santa Monica. She is a Bikram yoga instructor and also enjoys hiking.

Over the last thirty years, the silver jewelry of the Tuareg has gained increasing recognition in Europe and America as missionaries, aid workers, Peace Corps volunteers, and tourists visited Mali, Niger, and southern Algeria. They often returned with souvenirs and, on occasion, sufficient quantities of jewelry to sell. Tuareg inadan (male smiths) have also occasionally traveled to the West to sell their jewelry and have established commercial relationships with "ethnic" jewelry shops in some Western cities (especially Paris and New York).
Tuareg jewelry has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in France, Germany, Belgium, and Spain, such as "Touaregs" at the Musee de l'Homme (1993), "Touareg" at the Musee royal de l'Afrique centrale, Tervuren (1994), and "Tuareg, Nomades del desierto" exhibited at several museums in Spain under the sponsorship of Fundacion "la Ciaxa" (2001). Tuareg jewelry, leather and wood objects, and other pieces such as camel saddles have entered the collections of several museums, such as the Musee d'ethnographie, Neuchatel; Musee du Quai Branly, Paris; Bardo Museum, Algiers; and UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. Jewelry has also been the subject of books and articles over the last three decades (Creyaufmuller 1983, Gabus 1982, Gottler 1989, Loughran 1996, Mikelsen 1976, Rasmussen 1997a) and is a significant component of the upcoming exhibition "Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World" (UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, October 15, 2006-February 26, 2007; the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, May 30-September 2, 2007; and the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, October 10, 2007-January 27, 2008).
The Tuareg are a loose confederation of groups of pastoral nomads, settled agriculturists and, today, city dwellers, who speak a Berber language known as Tamasheq or Tamachek. They live in southern Algeria and are most numerous in the eastern region of Mali and southern Niger. The four main groups of Tuareg are Ahaggar, Tasile-n-Ajjer, Adrar des Ifoghas, and Air (Nicolaisen 1963, Nicolaisen and Nicolaisen 1997). While there is considerable variation among these groups, the social groupings--often referred to as castes in the literature--of the nobles (ihaggaren or imajeren) dominate political organizations. These nobles are the descendants of the camel breeders who, in the first millennia AD, dominated the earlier vassal groups of goat breeders known as imrad. The nobles, who controlled the caravan trade routes, undertook raids for camels and sometimes took slaves (iklan) from the south. Other sub-Saharan peoples, izeggaren, who were settled agriculturists, provided part of their crops to the nobles in return for protection. Two other social groups had special relationships to the nobles and other Tuareg. One was the inselemen, Islamic teachers who achieved their status through training and religious practice. The other was the artists or smiths known as inadan (sg. enad), who are the main focus of this essay. (See Keenan 1977, Nicolaisen 1963, and Nicolaisen and Nicolaisen 1997 for additional historic and anthropological background.)
Since the peace treaties ending the Tuareg rebellion against the governments of Mali and Niger of the late 1980s to mid 1990s, there have been numerous developments that have taken Tuareg jewelry much further into the global marketplace. This essay will focus on two different dynamics--one of the Koumama family of Agadez and their international partnerships, and the other of the French fashion empire Hermes and its relationship with a guild called A l'Atelier, formed in Agadez by Jean-Yves Brizot. These two enterprises illustrate very different approaches to the design, financing, production, and marketing of Tuareg silver jewelry. The Koumama family exemplifies Tuareg inadan actively taking their wares into the global market place. A l'Atelier and Hermes represent more typical Western commercial enterprises seeking new sources of inspiration and production.
The Koumama Family
Born in the first decade of the twentieth century, Mohamed Koumama was raised in the Air region of northern Niger (Fig. 2). He was a young man during the French colonization of the region and was subject to the same pressures of the changing social and political environment as the other nomadic Tuareg. (1) Mohamed Koumama apprenticed to his inadan (smith) father, from whom he learned woodcarving and metalworking. While still young, his talents were well recognized within his region, and he pursued opportunities to advance his skills and reputation. He married three times. His first wife, Shitna, who died in the late 1960s, was a tinadan (female smith), who in this case specialized in leather working. His second wife died after bearing one child, and subsequently Mohamed married Hadjita, who survives him today. Mohamed, who died in 2004, fathered fourteen children, of whom twelve survived, and all of them were apprenticed and trained to become inadan or tinadan (Fig. 3).

It's making something glittering and beautiful. It's creating a sparkling necklace or a pair of earrings. It's designing and manufacturing jewelry to your heart's content--while making profits at the same time. Think you can handle the glamour of running a jewelry business and seeing your creations adorn the rich and famous? Then prepare for the serious hard work it will take to get established.
"Sometimes [jewelry entrepreneurs] try to go too big, too fast," says Ann Barber, director of membership benefits at the National Craft Association, a professional trade association in Rochester, New York, for the arts and crafts industry. "One way to start is doing craft shows so you can get direct customer feedback." It's not just about setting up shop with your wares and expecting people to buy them--it's about researching the styles people buy, the prices they're willing to pay and what works in a particular geographic area. A key to success in the jewelry business? "Make sure your designs are unique," says Barber, "not something you can buy everywhere."
Once you set yourself apart as a hot jewelry designer, you'll be ready to approach trendy boutiques to carry your wares. First, create a catalog of your designs or sell sheets with your designs and wholesale pricing information. "Send the packet to the buyer from a particular shop, and then make an appointment to meet," says Barber. Many buyers have specified days and times to meet with new jewelry vendors. According to Barber, "When you go in, have everything ready on [your] order form so you can speed right through the process."
When Maya Brenner of Maya Brenner Designs in Los Angeles started designing jewelry part time in 1998, she successfully got the attention of a boutique owner. While shopping one day in New York City (her former home) and proudly wearing her creations, Brenner was spotted by the owner of a trendy boutique, who noticed her jewelry and ordered some on the spot. After that exposure, Brenner found a sales rep, and today her designs are in boutiques like Fred Segal as well as online at www.girlshop.com, pushing sales to about $200,000 annually.
Brenner, 34, who has even seen her jewelry adorning actresses Debra Messing, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Reese Witherspoon, found one of her biggest challenges was transitioning from manufacturing everything herself in the wee hours of the morning to calling for outside help.
Deciding when to expand depends on your volume, say experts. "The decision is dependent on your skill level, production size and cost-effectiveness. If you cannot make your jewelry by yourself well enough or fast enough, then you need to outsource," says Cindy Edelstein, founder of the Jeweler's Resource Bureau, an education and marketing consulting firm for jewelry designers based in Pelham, New York. "There are contract shops in many major cities, and many work by mail as well, so you don't have to physically be there."
In fact, the world of jewelry design is rife with options. In terms of what's hot, be aware of the fashion trends in your area. Edelstein notes that upcoming jewelry trends include a return to yellow gold (a rollback from the all-white gold and diamond phenomenon) and the addition of lots of color. Beads, stiletto earrings and layered necklaces are also heating up. But, warns Edelstein, "Long-term success comes from developing your own unique style through which you can interpret the ever-changing tide of trends." Bottom line--if you can dream it, it's a good bet that someone will wear it.
A JEWELER'S TOOLBOX
WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE JEWELRY INDUSTRY? CINDY EDELSTEIN OF THE JEWELER'S RESOURCE BUREAU SUGGESTS THE FOLLOWING SOURCES FOR INFORMATION ON THE SUBJECT:
* American Craft Council (www.craftcouncil.org)
* Crafts Business (www.craftsbusinessmagazine.com)
* The Crafts Report (www.craftsreport.com)
* Jewelers Vigilance Committee (www.jvclegal.org)
* Jewelry Design Professionals' Network (www. jdpn.org)
* Jewelry Information Center (www.jic.org)
* National Jeweler (www.nationaljeweler.com)
* Modern Jeweler (www.modernjeweler.com)
* Women's Jewelry Association (www.womens jewelry.org)