Too many conceptual bracelets, If you want to see metal been use, this is not your choice

Too many conceptual bracelets, If you want to see metal been use, this is not your choice

It's an incredible book. I think it's a source of inspiration for beginners and advanced jewelers.

I love this series from Lark! It provides me with lots of inspiration and it is a wonderful tool to learn new artists and their work. I have almost the whole series!

The images in '500 BRACELETS' are nothing short of inspirational.

I like the format that Lark Books has chosen for this book and their other '500 Series' books. The Book contains full page pics of the most contemporary, cutting edge jewelry one can find. Very few words are used, and the viewer is left to enjoy the images and let the art speak for its self.

If you are a student of art or a working artist this and other books in the '500 series' are a must for ideas, inspiration, and just plain enjoyment.Those with just a casual interest in different medias and crafts will also enjoy this book.

This is a great book for collectors,designers and sellers of Jewelry and Artists! Some far out ideas open up new thoughts and ideas for creating unique and extraordinary things. The other books by Lark are inspiring as well, especially the book on rings, my first purchase of Lark Books! I am inspired by this book and glad I purchased it.

My professor is very recommendation this series becouse this book is many originality bjects. And I order several 500 series in korea. Um..I'm very satisfy.

Many of the bracelets are purely conceptual and many look like they would be uncomfortable to wear, not to mention, too delicate to stand up to wear, however, I agree with Margarita about the book being a "spark for creativity" ... if you are an artistic type and not someone who is looking for something to copy. I found myself challenged, when I found a design I liked, to translate the idea into my chosen medium.

As for the criticism about including several nearly identical entries from the same artists, for the most part, I don't agree. However it did seem like "cheating" on the part of the editors to scatter these multiple entries throughout the book rather than place them together. I like to see multiple interpretations of a theme, and don't necessarily think these multiple entries should have been eliminated but think they should have been grouped together for easier comparison. I also would have liked the book organized either alphabetically by author. Still, even with these criticisms, I will probably buy this book.

This books shows truly extraordinary creations in an amazing variety of materials and techniques. I own "1000 rings" and "500 brooches" and had therefore equally great expectations for this collection. However, in the order of publication of these books there seems to be a trend towards more emphasis on bizarreness at the cost of esthetics and wearability. Originality should not mean that functionality must be reduced in order to count as "art jewelry". Vice versa it seems that jewelry in traditional designs and techniques is not worth selecting (although very often they require much better skills). Many of the pieces would be more suited to appear in a collection of art sculptures rather than jewelry. Finally, since there was no lack of entries (more than 3000), it is a pity that several nearly identical entries from the same artists were chosen instead of giving a different artist a chance to display his or her work (example: two bracelets made from used coffee filters; the originality is appreciated but one piece would have sufficed to present the idea). I am curious how "500 Necklaces" will turn out.

Exhibit A in the case against buying books without being able to browse them first. If strapping a can opener to your wrist with adhesive tape counts as a bracelet, then there are 500, but many are pretense and most are unwearable. This book is just silly.

The book is the best quality in printing and photography, as in all the other Lark books that I've seen. The bracelets chosen for inclusion in the book are a little too "way out" in their styling for my taste.

I can't understand why this book has an average of only 3 stars..... wait, I can. I think some people wanted stylish bracelets on every page, instead of the stylish bracelets _and_ true, melt-your-brain art in the pages of this book. Guess they resist having their brains melted....it does sound scary.

Not me. Not the people I know -- I'm sending them all emails urging them to go out and BUY THIS BOOK NOW! What an inspiration! It would drop-kick you out of any creative slump just looking at half a dozen pages on the darkest day. It encourages thinking outside the box like no other book I've ever read or seen -- but I'm highly visual in my orientation. Maybe that's it. Some people are more cerebral in their approach. That must be it. I TREASURE THIS BOOK.

I'm a designer and jeweller and I found this book as a explotion of imagination and creativity; that bring me inspiration to develope my own ideas.

I own this book, 500 Brooches, and 1000 Rings. This one is the worst of the 3, I think the other 2 are great. Overall these bracelets are just not that interesting, and there seem to be too many of them, by different artists, that are similar. One artist has 2 pieces in the book that are almost identical. I don't know what went wrong with this book. Was it the jurors? Is it that no one is making interesting bracelets? Is it that they didnt get many submissions?

Its not all bad. Theres some good pieces. If you like the brooches and rings books, you should still get this book, just don't expect too much. Anyway, its pretty cheap on amazon.

Like 1000 RIngs and 500 Brooches (both of which I have), Lark Books' 500 Bracelets is a must-have for anyone interested in the art jewelry scene today. The photos, materials and ideas presented in the wonderful pieces are amazing and so, so inspiring!

this is a big disappointment, given the other wonderful books in the series. while the designs may be "cutting edge" techniques, too many of them also look either incredibly uncomfortable or impossible to wear - many look almost like art school failed projects.

Functional is the Word in my opinion. I did not think the selection of bracelets in this book equals the other 500 items books. The book publishing, the physical part and the photographs are fabulous. The editors selections leave some doubt in my mind as to their abilities in selecting items. I think a bracelet is to be worn as an accessory or an adornment not to be a dangerous object such as a bracelet of lighted birthday candles- A big paper wheel you can stick your arm through also stretches the boundaries. I cannot stretch my imagination enough to consider some of the selections in this book as a bracelet.