Eight books on drawing and designing jewelry that have shaped how I sketch my own designs for By Mayveda.
Before any By Mayveda piece is made, it begins as a drawing. Learning to draw jewelry well, so the light, the metal and the stones all read on paper, takes practice, and these are the books that have helped me most. Some teach technique, others are pure inspiration, drawn from the jewelers and design archives of the past.
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Learning to draw jewelry
Jewellery Illustration and Design, Vol. 1: From Technical Drawing to Professional Rendering, by Manuela Brambatti and Cosimo Vinci
A thorough, step-by-step guide to drawing jewelry, from technical drawings to fully rendered designs. If you want to learn how to show gold, diamonds and colored stones convincingly on paper, this is the place to start.
Best for: learning rendering technique.
Drawing for Jewelers: Master Class in Professional Design, by Maria Josep Forcadell Berenguer and Josep Asunción Pastor
A practical guide to the drawing skills every jeweler needs, with clear exercises that build confidence. It's a book to work through with a pencil in hand.
Best for: building drawing skills from the ground up.
The Art of Jewelry Design: Principles of Design, Rings and Earrings, by Maurice P. Galli, Dominique Rivière and Fanfan Li
A classic of jewelry design teaching, focused on the principles of good design and on drawing rings and earrings in particular. It's a brilliant resource for anyone designing their own engagement ring.
Best for: designing rings and earrings.
Drawing Jewels for Fashion, by Carol Woolton
A beautiful celebration of jewelry illustration, showing how designers and illustrators have captured jewels on paper. It's more inspiration than instruction, and wonderful to leaf through.
Best for: inspiration from great jewelry illustrators.
Inspiration from the archives
Le Bijou Dessiné / Designing Jewels
A stunning collection of original jewelry design drawings, the kind made in Paris workshops before a piece was ever made. Published with L'École des Arts Joailliers, the Paris school of jewelry arts, it shows how the great houses drew their designs, and it's endlessly inspiring.
Best for: seeing how the great jewelers drew.
A Source Book of Antiques and Jewelry Designs, by Clarence P. Hornung
A treasure trove of historic designs gathered from old catalogs and pattern books. It's a book I return to for ideas on motifs, borders and settings.
Best for: historic motifs and details.
Authentic Art Deco Jewelry Designs, edited by Franco Deboni and arranged by Theodore Menten
More than 800 original Art Deco design drawings of necklaces, brooches, bracelets and rings, full of the geometric shapes and crisp lines that define the period. It's an affordable and inspiring look at how Art Deco jewels were planned on paper.
Best for: Art Deco inspiration.
The jewelers of today
Jewelry's Shining Stars: The Next Generation, by Beth Bernstein
A look at 45 visionary women designers and the stories behind their work. It's a lovely reminder that today's designers are writing the next chapter of jewelry history.
Best for: discovering contemporary designers.
From sketch to ring
By Mayveda is our own collection, designed by me and made to order in New York. Every piece starts as a sketch, and if you'd like to create something of your own, I'd love to talk it through with you.
More in this series: The Best Books for New Antique Jewelry Collectors, Books on Love, Symbolism and Sentimental Jewelry and On My Desk: Reference Books for Identifying Antique Jewelry.