Apprenticeship rules

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi friends.

Here is an interesting page on apprenticeship rules in the IUS (I
didn’t know they had them).

There are some interesting times assigned to learning varied skills,
like 100 hours to learn how to stick objects onto shellac sticks…

best
Charles

Charles Lewton-Brain/Brain Press
President, Canadian Crafts Federation
Box 1624, Ste M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2L7, Canada

Tel: 403-263-3955 Fax: 403-283-9053
@Charles_Lewton-Brai1

2

Charles

100 hours to learn how to “stick little thingees on shellac” with
out the damn stuff dripping onto your fingers, youch! How about 6
MONTHS on how to Grind and Shape a graver =>

…without burning them!!! Then many 2 years on how to Polish those
little blighters. Or how to raise beads on gold that is only .004 mm
thick? Not too mention how to set Princess stones in a Gypsy-Flush
setting…now this is apprenticship for ya, all! These things you
cannot learn in a “week-end” workshop.

I say to my students, “I can show you anything in setting, but I
cannot teach you…experience”. No apprenticeship can teach you
that…

“Gerry, the Cyber-Setter!”

3

Charles L-B.

I just looked into your apprenticeship web-site 8,000 hours for a
jeweller (3.84 Years). It also states that it takes a diamond setter
8,000 hours also to learn this craft. It doesn’t stipulate how long
it takes to be a qualified journeyman once you digest all of these
many facts described. Very interesting material for all to
read…Thanks, EH!..

Gerry Lewy!

4 
    Here is an interesting page on apprenticeship rules in the IUS
(I didn't know they had them).
http://www.nssb.org/certapps/Jeweler_Apprenticeship.htm

Very interesting program Charles. I didn’t know we had those rules
either, but suspected we might. For many years I was reluctant to
call anyone who was working for me and getting on-the-job training an
“apprentice” because I was afraid that there was some set of standards
lurking out there that could get me in trouble for not following the
legal definition of apprenticeship. Three years ago I took a young
helper that I consider an apprentice and have been managing that
responsibility according to my own best judgment.

Now the big question for me is , why havn’t I heard of this before? I
have been schooled and working in the field for about 30 years and I
have never met anyone who has been through this program, never been
contacted by anyone suggesting I participate and never until now seen
any mention of my own government’s official definition of
apprenticeship in my own vocation in any publication. Is this just a
paper ghost of some Washington bureaucrats or does an actual program
involving real people really exist?

Stephen Walker

5 
    Here is an interesting page on apprenticeship rules in the US
(I didn't know they had them).

Fascinating! Would someone please tell me what “frazing” is? I’ve
never heard the term and, apparently, neither has Google!

Beth

6 
    I say to my students, "I can show you anything in setting, but
I cannot teach you..experience". No apprenticeship can teach you
that....

I served a four year apprenticeship as a jewelry repairman in
Washington, DC, from 1970 to 1974. It was regulated by the city. It
kept me out of Viet Nam. Probably the most value that I received in
that time was the experience that four years in a tradeshop with up
to 180 accounts had to offer. Let me stress the word “experience”.
Some years later, I apprenticed two individuals, one of which
received VA benefits for that experience.

Bruce D. Holmgrain
http://www.goldwerx.com
@Red_Rodder
JA Certified Master Bench Jeweler / CAD/CAM Solutions

7 
 never until now seen any mention of my own government's official
definition of apprenticeship in my own vocation in any publication.
Is this just a paper ghost of some Washington bureaucrats or does
an actual program involving real people really exist?

Just because the government has written a description doesn’t mean a
program exists. The government writes rules about lots of things.
They also have rules about the length of cut green beans, if they
are to be sold in cans to the government.

And, since they also buy jewelry (for AAFES, American Armed Forces
something Stores, I think), they have rules about that too.

Elaine
Elaine Luther
Metalsmith, Certified PMC Instructor
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com ™
Hard to Find Tools for Metal Clay

8 
    And, since they also buy jewelry (for AAFES, American Armed
Forces something Stores, I think), they have rules about that too.

While the commissaries on military installations are military
operated, AAFES (Army and Air Force Exchange Service) is actually a
privately owned company located in Dallas, Texas. They are among the
largest US retailers, and employ over 50,000 civilian employees. But
they still probably follow certain government written rules
concerning jewelry.

James in SoFl

9

I just wanted to mention that those apprenticeship rules are exactly
what they use in “Old Europe” as a fundament for every
apprenticeship. It should make sure that a goldsmith learns
everything in different areas of the profession and not only one or
two subject. Most apprenticeships are done in small studios that
concentrate on repair work or stone setting or such. If you wouldn’t
have those rules an apprentice (who has to learn 4 years to be a
goldsmith) could get stuck in learning and doing repairwork for 4
years without learning the other fields. Most smaller studios send
their apprentices to other studios or schools for a couple of months
in order to learn sections they don’t offer in their studio. It also
should make sure that there is a standart of the minimum that every
goldsmith has to know by the end of the apprenticeship. During the
apprenticship all apprentices have to go to goldsmith school for one
day every week to learn all theory about the profession. This is
also a good way to network with other students who are in the same
situation.

All in all I think the apprenticeship system is a very good standart
and a well established fundament to get started in a profession. The
apprentice works for the studio and gets paid from the first day on.

Edith
Edith Schneider Jewelry
P.O.Box 52001
Palo Alto, CA 94303
@Edith_Schneider
www.edithschneider.com
(650) 813 9755