Lapidary Journal RIP?
Wednesday June 20, 2007
This is not necessarily new news, but it is something I've been meaning to mention to my readers for some time. I actually heard about it a few months ago. The long respected and basically one of the founding magazines in the jewelry making industry, Lapidary Journal, has gotten a make-over and is now Jewelry Artist magazine. This overhaul seems to have come for a few reasons. First, I find it sort of cool that the original owner of Lapidary Journal, Primedia, actually owned About.com at one time. Then they sold About.com to the New York Times and eventually Interweave Press took over Lapidary Journal. So, we are all sort of distant relatives.
These new changes eventually lead to the new look and new name of this magazine that's really been around forever (60 years). You can read the full details on the Jewelry Artist magazine web site, but the quick and dirty version is that the publishers realized that the idea of jewelry artistry and not just lapidary arts has become more popular. Thus, they plan to take the focus of the magazine more in that direction.
Comments
You know, I saw this one on the stands a month ago and only glanced at the cover for a second before resuming my search for Lapidary Journal. D-oh!
Thanks for the heads up, Tammy.
I’m sure you aren’t the only person to do that. I’ve been meaning to blog about this for awhile now.
The magazine is really nice. I am not sure what to have expected. Articles give details of how to fabricate gorgeous pieces. This is my second issue.
Excellent magazine for Lapidary & Jewelry fabrication arts. I have some 40 year old copies of the Journal, which really show the evolution of this fine publication; L. Journal used to advertise trips, vehicles, etc. all designed to make those rockhound trips a little easier!! The focus has swung heavily in favor of fabrication, for which jewelry hobbyists like myself are eternally grateful. Pricey on the newstand; go to the website and get the best deals.
I’ve actually failed to renew my sub to LJ about a over a year ago because I saw this coming down the line… Once in a while, I’ll look at it @ newstand, but no reason to buy it anymore…
Now I’ve more money for my Rock & Gem, been thinking about getting a Mineralogical Record subscription with part of the money saved from Lapidary Journal.
I also have about 20 Years worth in storage, and morn the passing of this magazine from a hobby journal into an “arts and craft” fluff media.
I looks like Rock and Gem is doing well at filling the void LJ left, and even the recent issue mentioned looking for more lapidary related articles.
I understand folks are geared towards jewerly, but just putting pieces together is not 100% what I would call “artistic” That is what I see with the beading and jewelry magazines on shelfs now… kinda like the scrapbooking magazines… Buy parts and assemble them pretty. ??? Boring.
Sorry to offend, just my .02 worth.
Steve, The Mineralogical Record is a fantastic magazine, but also give Rocks & Minerals a try.
Wow. I actually just bought lapidary equipment, and was going to subscribe to lapidary journal. I went to lapidaryjeweler.com and found a jewelry making magazine (I already make jewelry). I thought I was in the wrong spot so did a search and found this. Now I know NOT to subscribe. I’ll go for Rock & Gem instead. I’ll scan a “jewelry artist” if I see one somewhere and see where they’re at, but it doesn’t look like they meet my needs anymore.
As a faceter, I think the new format sucks big time. When I read article headings such as “Love Your Hammers”, I wonder about parallel universes. If they wanted to change the format, they might have considered their current readers and left a few faceting articles in each issue.