From now on I will try to post only about more current books, however I felt that I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this book. The Complete Metalsmith by Tim McCreight is by far the best book that I have come across to explain how and why to do things in jewelry making. The spiral bound format is great a bench companion whenever you need help getting through a project.
I noticed that there is a newer DVD version, which I haven’t gotten yet, but if it is anything like this book, it is well worth the money.
Also a good buy from Tim McCreight is Jewelry: The Fundamentals of Metalsmithing, which is a hard bound book with plenty of photo illustrations.