Lapidary Journal has a New Name and Updated Content
A review of Art Jewelry Magazine, February 23, 2008
Submitted by: AuPlantagenet from New Orleans, LA

I am a goldsmith and lapidary  among other  titles, and  businesses. Lapidary Journal has been a long-time  favorite of mine for many years. The New  style and  articles are more geared to the trends in  art jewelry  making than Lapidary arts  but  where there is readership  there is  money, and advertising. The editor of lapidary Journal  is truly a journalist as compared to other art jewelry  genre magazines. The editor of Art Jewelry Magazine, a Kalmbach publication  is more an advertising   dollar hound than rock hound- which is what lapidary journal originally  aspired to attract in their   membership subscription roles. For that reason  Merle White has more ethical and  contextual grasp of what a magazine of this ilk should contain and sees to it that the cutrrent articles  target the current population of  subscribers - art jewelrs and lapidary that are interested in advancing or  refining or in some cases sharnig theior knowledge of both  with the  magazine's readership. The new format has met  with mixed reviews from "old timers" and rockhounds that  decry the  content as being more  attractive to  srt jewelrs than  lapidary..I must admit the  articles are balanced and then again, with very little advancement in techniques and  processes  in either genre, Jewelry Artist maximizes the  most current information  in each field with  aits updated format that  is easier to read and  articles that are easier to follow, particularly for novices in  both concentrations. If I could afford only one art jewelry magazine not attached to an organizational membership ( like MEtalsmith for instance) ,Jewelry Artist would be , by far the magazine  of choice. Ethically,  for readability, information and  stylistically- it is hands down superior to Art Jewelry Magazine, of which the editor seems more  interested in reading  cookbooks than producing a  magazine  that seems solely  advertising driven.