I’m glad this point is brought back into the digest for two reasons.
We have a tightened, more competitive economy during a time when
newer generations are joining the workforce. The question becomes how
does one justify the training costs versus joining into creative
bench work. I face a similar dilemma. I worked as a bench jeweler for
a few years before moving to an area where there is little demand for
jewelers. I live in the NE Texas area and burned out driving to the
Dallas Metroplex for a job in less than two years. I want to work and
I definitely want to work as a bench jeweler. I have tried applying
at stores in my town several times but no luck. I was asking for a
job and not an apprenticeship. At this point I am working on my
associate degree of art but I fear the consequence of having taken so
much time away from my skills, especially if I apply for work in a
jewelry store while pursuing my bachelor degree.
The most affordable jewelry school is on-the-job training. I think
Stephen is absolutely right. The caveat I find is what if you live in
area where the few stores here cannot hire more staff?
The reason they want you to supply your own tools is,that makes you
self employed. You pay your own taxes, SS, health insurance, accident
insurance etc, etc, etc.
The most affordable jewelry school is on-the-job training. I think
Stephen is absolutely right. The caveat I find is what if you live
in area where the few stores here cannot hire more staff?
AND you have to have some basic skills – hopefully more than basic
skills – to get hired in the first place.
the schools who are supposed to be teaching and advising these
young people are especially deserving of scrutiny and rebuke for
encouraging a student in something like the arts or humanities to
take out these huge loans.
Why wouldn’t they? They are the beneficiaries of all that money.
That’s not a trade school. It could certainly be a good place to
start, but looking at their course offerings, they don’t have
classes in actual trade techniques.
I find these numbers hard to believe! Not saying you're wrong just
who in their right mind would spend $200,00 to get a $40,000 a
year job. I know kids who gradated law school and have only
$100,000 in loans. When the economy comes back lawyers get paid
over $100K.
David - the cost of an education is crazy but largely because
colleges charge to cover research, fancy campuses, and very limited
teaching hours for privileged tenured professors. If they charged for
the education, that is - seat time, the numbers would be very
different. And often the kids don’t work to support body and soul
while in college so they run up big loans for housing, food and
whatever they think they need. Perhaps you can blame the parents who
wouldn’t want to let their kids hold down a job while in high school
so why would the kids think that college would be any different. As a
whole, we do a very poor job of teaching our kids what money is all
about - like you do have to pay back loans. Education is big
business and they sell what they have just like we sell jewelry.
Judgment is required.
There are a few programs in your area worth checking out… Howard
Academy of the Metal Arts Stoughton, WI
“The Howard Academy of Wisconsin offers career training for jewelers
and metalsmiths with a curriculum that focuses on proficiency and
craftsmanship using a low tech and low cost approach. We want our
graduates of our jewelryschool to keep quality and profits up by
keeping time, labor and material costs down. Professional training
in the metal arts includes…”
Basically a jewelry tech school teaching everything from simple
soldering to mokume gane, foundry work, tool making etc. Great bunch
of very spirited people, with a real practical approach as opposed
to academic art theory. I worked with Missy Howard for
awhile…really fun and dedicated metalhead. She’s interviewed here
Run by Kim Cridler and Lisa Gralnick. Highly renowned program.
There’s a list of “Notable Alumni”…you might try contacting a few
of them and get their opinions on the program and how well it might
fit your needs. Kim also teaches workshops at the excellent Racine
Art Museum, through their Master Artist Program. They also have a
slew of jewelry classes from season to season.
sign up for SNAG’s newsletter SNAGnet…lots of education
announcements forhands-on training, schools, etc along with an
occasional job opening too! Opportunities | SNAG
Don’t take your benefits for granted. I had a state job, was
learning/selling jewelry on the side. Was in a bad car
accident…without my benefits I’d be in quite a bit worse state
than just owing for school. Hang on to 'em unless/until you get
great benefits elsewhere.
I was lucky enough to learn by apprenticeship for several years with
a local jewelry whose work I loved. First started working with her
as a salesperson/bookkeeper, then as an apprentice. It’s not
glamorous. Most of it was polishing all day every day, but after a
couple of years I was trained for saw-piercing, bezel-making, etc.
It was truly valuable experience and taught me a lot about patience,
paying attention to detail and integrity in your work.
I see you have discovered the truth behind the job market ! profit,
profit, bain… oops, profit, capital… oops, profit. i agree with
you pete. this guy is most likely one of those monkey types that got
a job from someone and then as soon as he thought he knew something
went running of with his treasured little banana.
Elaine. I have obviously missed a couple of msgs in this thread but
would like to respond to the comment you quoted that “The most
affordable jewelry school is on-the-job training”. This kind of
training has its place but, as you say “AND you have to have some
basic skills…”. Getting the basic skills is the rub. OJT, as we
called it in the service, usually just does not provide the basics.
In my experience teaching jewelry fabrication for over 10 years, I
have learned that while there are many, so called, instructors who
may, in their own right be excellent smiths/jewelers, have
absolutely no teaching skills. Many of them also have bad habits to
boot and should they take on a student for OJT will merely pass those
habits on! So, I completely support your comments that basic skills
are essential BEFORE one finds a position for OJT.
I would say one should look around. There are many smaller, further
education, courses that provide the basics. For those living
in/around South Florida we have an excellent jewelry studio at the
Boca Raton Museum of Art School. where I teach 4 classes a week
including two basic silver smithing, one advanced smithing and one
gem cutting. There are 5 terms a year beginning in Sept, with from 5
to 8 three hour classes per term, depending on vacation days,
(usually one three hour class a week but some students who want to
speed things up often take 2 or more classes a week). We also have
classes in enameling, art metal clay and others. Classes are quite
reasonably priced. For further go to
I think one of the best things that the art schools or trade schools
can do to salvage their credibility would be to get some kind of
internship program going. Engineers, medical professionals, business
majors and all the “real” fields encourage internship placement and
the schools are very serious about promoting it. I have had two art
school student interns in the last two years and in neither case did
anyone from the school make any effort to contact me or get any feed
back. Both of those students took the initiative on their own. Both
were highly motivated and talented and were very glad to work for
cheap in exchange for what they might learn.
If you are a student reading this, ask around about the
possibilities, but if your instructors are not responsive, go looking
on your own.
If you are a potential employer. Consider an intern. It is a short
term commitment. You get someone with a lot of enthusiasm who will
work cheap. Pass on some of what you have learned! It is rewarding.
If you are a teacher, your students will be far better off if they
have some introduction to a career path outside the ivory tower. You
students doing well reflect on what a good job you are doing. This
is way outside the usual art school culture, I know, but it is
disgraceful that this is not the norm.
AND you have to have some basic skills -- hopefully more than
basicskills -- to get hired in the first place. Just a useful quote
from Elaine.
This thread has a certain amount of, well… I don’t know. How
many of you asking this have actually applied for a job at Tiffany?
Oscar Heyman? Van Cleef? David Yurman? Zales?
What have you? Anybody? I hear “I live in the woods and there are no
jobs here”, which is fine and probably true. So, you can sit in the
woods or you can go out and find a job where the job IS. Seems like
asimple concept.
Just about nobody coming out of academic jewelry programs is
qualified for professional jewelry work - I don’t say that lightly,
it comes from long experience in and out of them. They will teach
you how to solder and use pliers and some other things, yes. You
need the usual things that you need for any job, first of all, which
I’ll just sum up by saying that you need to have your head on
straight. And real talent is going to get the job that others ahead
of you want.
I got my first jewelry job as a polisher because I had one semester
of university jewelry (useless, that was) and had taken some summer
craft courses in my life, and had been making jewelry in my garage.
What really got me that job was me - more than my skills was the
idea that I’d fit well on the team. Those fundamental life skills,
again. And then I worked my way up the ladder, ~never thinking that
what I had in the way of skills was enough to go solo~ until I was
at the upper rungs.
Widen your circles, physically and mentally. Nobody said it was easy
one way or another you have to gain skills and ability that are
higher and more profound than those around you.
I went to Paris Junior College back in 1986. I don’t think it was
real expensive at that time, but it may be now. Anyway, it was a
good school which teaches the skills one needs to do jewelry repair
and fabrication from the ground up. I have also, heard of a school in
Boston, I think it’s called the Bennett Street School. It seems like
they have a good program for learning fabrication and bench skills
from the ground up, too. You could check them out. The only problem
these days is many schools are expensive and most jewelers don’t make
anywhere near what lawyers and doctors make, but it is a rewarding
job once you learn the ropes and aquire the skill necessary to
perform the job. I love it,but of course everyone wants more money.
That’s just the way it is. Good luck and if you do follow the path to
becoming a jeweler you have to have patience and perseverance.
Just about nobody coming out of academic jewelry programs is
qualified for professional jewelry work.
I want to chime about this. The whole purpose I openedup the Jewelry
Training Center is to prepare people to work in the jewelry trade.I
found as a professional jeweler that the metalsmithing academia does
great for creativity (occasionally) but as far as core skills they
depend greatly on who isdelivering the knowledge and what their
personal goals (agendas) may be. This goes as well as on the job
training and apprenticing. What if you work for a moron? Anyone know
a grouchy jeweler that actually has time for you? Do you really need
to suffer and struggle through mistakes and bad advice to be a
competent jeweler? Of course you may be fortunate to work with an
intelligentcompassionatejeweler that really does want to train you.
Someone that truly offers the best education and experience.
My philosophy relies on technique andresultsfirst, then let loose
with the creativity. Size, set stones and retip to pay the bills.
Then do what moves you when you make the time for yourself.
It’s a great business to be in when you enjoy it. When you struggle
and get frustrated over being overworked andunderpaidit may not be
fun anymore. So do your research, find a trade school that can
deliver the skills needed to learn useable techniques. Watch out for
sugar coated job/career promises. Avoid instruction that pushes,
“this is the only way” or “my way or the highway”.
Of course I’m 30+ year bench/retail veteran that’s a little biased.
I’ve done the “corporate/scripted” teaching (17+ years), and left
that to concentrate on teaching the individual rather than the
group. I prefer to be able to adapt to individual learning styles.
Thanks, Arthur Skuratowicz
P.S. And no, we do not guarantee that you will be employable after
you graduate.We do not guarantee that you will get a high paying job
either. It’sup to you to use and develop your new skills. This also
means interviewing and negotiating skills.We do guarantee that you
stand a better chance ofunderstandingyour strengths and weaknesses
and that you can indeed solder, set and repair some if not all
jewelry.
The problem with university programs in metals and jewellery - is
half the time they are taught by people who left school and went
straight into teaching - no time spent in the industry whatsoever -
i’m only speaking of UK universities here, but it really is very
much a case of (as mentioned earlier), here’s a bur, here’s some
metal, here’s a brief demo in something unrelated to what you want
to do, now go fly my pretties!! except flying never seems to happen,
and most friends at who left this last year at university were
bitterly disappointed in their skill set.
I would wholeheartedly recommend new approach school for jewelers -
now in Tennessee, I am pretty confident that I have learnt more
practical useful skills in three months there, than I will in my
whole three years at uni (if my first is anything to go by) - and im
supposed to be at one of the best jewelry schools in england!
...now go fly my pretties!! except flying never seems to happen,
and most friends at who left this last year at university were
bitterly disappointed in their skill set.
Over the years I would occasionally hire recent university metals
program graduates, and they felt the same way. And I felt bad for
them. Here they spent 4 years at school to become a metalsmith and
better than kids I’d hire that were right out of a good high school
metals program. They were familiar with the shop and equipment along
with the basic processes, but had to be retrained in the most basic
bench skills. I wish that universities could find a way to partner
with working shops to incorporate some real world bench training
their programs.
Here they spent 4 years at school to become a metalsmith and from
my point of view, as the employer, they were only a little better
than kids I'd hire that were right out of a good high school metals
program.
It would be interesting to poll craftsmen who have had a viable
professional career and compare their training to career path. Here
are the questions:
At what age did you begin working/training as a
jeweler/metalsmith?
Did you attend a college art school? If ‘yes’, was
jewelry/metalsmithing your major?
Did you attend a jewelry trade school? If yes, how long was the
program?
Did you have on-the -job training or an apprenticeship? If ‘yes’,
was it before, after or instead of training at a school? How long?
Are you self-taught?
Have you attended adult education workshops, non-degree classes,
seminars, etc.
Describe your career in the most recent five years. Are you a
business owner, employee, teacher, independent contractor, wanna-be?
Has your jewelry/metalsmithing work been full-time or part-time
in the most recent five years?
How many years has jewelry/metalsmithing been your primary active
vocation?
I think there are a few things to remember here. Most metals programs
at colleges are part of the art program. They are learning
metalsmithing from a sculpture point of view, not a bench jewelers
point of view. Of course they aren’t being trained in specific
jewelers techniques. Just as a bench jeweler isn’t typically trained
in large sculpture techniques. I do however believe if you had a good
teacher and explored metalsmithing thoroughly while in a college
metals program, you should be able to move into an entry position
with relative ease. As with any career, they will need some level of
training, but it should be specific things not basic skills. I myself
went through a college metals program. I was lucky enough to have an
excellent teacher who prepared me as well as he could in that time
span. That being said, I’ve seen many other students/graduates think
they are metalsmiths, but don’t know how to do the most basic things.
In jewelry or sculpture! Like with anything else you often get out
what you put in. Many people don’t see why basic craftsmanship is
important and it shows in their work. Ask many questions, explore
beyond the classroom, learn as much as you can in the short time
you’re there, and remember your education doesn’t stop just because
you have a degree. If jewelry is your goal, pursue that avenue. Go to
a trade school or attend specific courses after college. Whatever you
do remember art and jewelry aren’t necessarily the same thing. If
you’re going to combine them, you should learn about both. There are
advantages and disadvantages to both college metals programs and
jewelry trade schools. Knowing what you’re interested in before you
enroll is a big help, but taking full advantage of the program
(facilities & teachers) is the most important thing.