James,
we are certainly gifted with your mere presence. Thank you for being
there.
jennifer friedman
http://www.jenniferfriedmanstudio.com
That is a really beautiful piece that you made James.
What did you make the Blue/Black inner piece of? Is it oxidized
silver? It almost looks stone like. Anyway, a masterpiece of note!
Man, I could use a couple of 20 year old lads that do that kind of
work in my business. (grin)
Cheers, Hans Meevis
James,
I also enjoy your skill with words, and thank you for sharing them.
Your Master Craftsmanship has thrilled us for years. Insofar as one
declaring themselves a Master Jeweler here in the USA, well to quote
a well used phrase, “I know it when I see it.”
Just let us know when you want to tour the USA, I can assure you
that home doors will open for you from Sea to Shining Sea, and mine
is right up there with them. I’ll bet a speaking tour can be
arranged, just need to line up the various Guilds, Societies,
Academies, etc.
In deepest respect,
Hugs
Terrie
i am curious, james about the choice of word you used INDENTURED
APPRENTICESHIP could you please explain what that means?
Can't resist jumping in here... I think that means you do as you're darn well told or you get it in the teeth!
Noel makes a witty connection Re: ‘indentured’. In todays terms I
think it means you’re committed to that period of time 7 to 10
years.
Today it seems more likely that if you take someone on as an
‘apprentice’ they are more likely to feel that after a short time
the person feels that they want to go out and be their own ‘boss’ and
make the big bucks.
‘Indentured’ has a very negative connotation, at least here in the
USA.
The Oxford dictionary defines it as “a sealed agreement esp. binding
apprentice to master”.
KPK
James your piece is the visual definition of Master Jeweler. If one
can fabricate a piece like that without assistance, one is a master.
My single question what gage metal did you start with?
With all respect
KPK
A further thought about ‘Master Jeweler’:
The rigorous training one receives as an apprentice as James did
gives an amazing foundation as perhaps no other training can do.
James also, from I can see, probably went beyond those who trained
him. For those who don’t know see his images of his work on
’Orchid’.
I received no rigorous training in metalwork or lapidary. I pretty
much reinvented the wheel; I don’t say this with pride. The one thing
that may have benefited me in the area of lapidary was I did some
things that weren’t accepted practice. Because I wasn’t committed to
or didn’t know I cut a type of stone in a way it wasn’t normally cut.
Perhaps I would have done that even if I had had formal instruction.
The world has changed and especially here in the US most are
unwilling to committ to an apprenticeship system even if it were
available.
KPK
In previous post I stated that “Master Jeweller” is a meaningless
term, which it is. Judging by the content of posts since then, I feel
that explanation would be helpful.
We have to differentiate whether we using term as an indication of
certain level of skills, or as a title denoting complete mastery of
the Art. It is highly unlikely that anybody can claim the later, then
it has to be the certain level of skills that we referring to. But
establishing a skill level, which would truly measure someone’s
ability, must include provision that tools and circumstances
surrounding the test to be the same. It should be obvious that above
conditions cannot be met. What we wind up with is the term which
means something at one time, something else at another.
I fail to see the usefulness or even relevance of such term.
Let’s remember the saying “In the kingdom of blind, the man with
one eye is a king”
Leonid Surpin.
I’ve been biting my tongue for a while now.
I am jealous of James Miller, James Binnion and a few others. They
have found the time and resources truly master some techniques that I
have only begun to explore. Kudos to them.
In 1960, at the age of almost eight, my grandparents hooked me up
with a visit to Ernest Estwing’s house. He was a rockhound and
manufactured the rock picks that many of us are familiar with. From
that visit, I started collecting rocks and moved on to cutting a
few. Eventually, in high school I did a little silversmithing and
some faceting.
In 1970, I graduated from high school. Not being college bound, when
I learned that an apprenticeship in jewelry repair was open I applied
for a job. I seem to remember signing an agreement, and at the end of
four years, I received a certificate describing me as a “journeyman
jewelry repairman”. I learned a lot during this period about the
repair as well as manufacture of all types of jewelry. When I had
finished my apprenticeship, I continued to work for that company, and
learned some diamond setting and fabrication that I wasn’t taught
during the first four years.
In 1976, I felt that I had a good grasp of techniques in commercially
manufactured jewelry and custom design and thought that it was time
to move on. I continued to learn. I started to do contract work and
studied and learned. I was in the belief that I was pretty good. In
fact, I thought that I was real good. At twelve years on the bench, I
went to work in a place that I had previously regarded as somewhat
amateurish and found a new meaning to the word “humility”. I was off
and learning again.
A lot of time has passed. About a decade ago, I got a little tired
of people arbitrarily calling themselves “masters”. When Jewelers of
America started testing and awarding certificates, I bought my
ticket and took the ride. Their tests are reasonable. They require a
certain amount of skill to be demonstrated in a set amount of time.
The projects reflect a skill set that can be implemented in the
largest commercial bench setting. I learned long ago, that it was
possible for anyone to produce any project in an unlimited amount of
time. The trick here is to produce their projects with the materials
and time that they provide. I passed the tests and hold no shame in
displaying my certificates. Just as anyone that has a BS,GG, PhD or
any other certificate. That certificate just reflects a certain
amount of skill that has commercial value. If you are jealous of my
willingness to subject my skillset to the “arbitrary” judgement of
others in this business, then buy your own ticket and take your own
chances. Otherwise, please shut up.
I have a lot of experience. I can set and size just about as fast as
anyone. I can repair bangles and pocket watch cases. I’ll tin solder
Swank cuff links and I’ll fabricate platinum filligree. I probably
build 700-800 pieces of custom jewelry per year. It sometimes seems
as if there is little that I have never done. I have done some Mokume
and enameling. I do a lot of CAD and a little CAM, nowadays.
All this and I still have plenty to learn.
Bruce D. Holmgrain
JA Certified Master Benchjeweler
Hi Kevin and to all else who sent me questions about the manufacture
of my badge/crest,
Thanks for all of your comments on the Orchid digest. Kevin asked
about the silver sheet thicknesses on my badge. Well it was made from
pieces taken from the workshop’s silver scrap box. When I was an
apprentice there were five other craftsmen in the workshop, two
silversmiths, two goldsmiths and a jeweller. So between us we used a
lot of metal and we kept quite a large box of what was called useable
silver scrap. I started off with 2mm. thick silver and used the
rolling mills to alter my thicknesses. On my badge the top figure is
of St.Dunstan, ( the patron saint of goldsmiths ), I made it by
soldering three layers of pierced shapes together before carving and
chasing, each level was about 1.5mm. thick. The two supporting
animals were made in the same way. The base scrollwork and monogram
were pierced and carved from 2mm. thick. The central shield was a
box constuction made from 1mm with overlays, as was the lettering
scroll beneath the shield. The colouring was just a mixture of
polishing and whitening in sulphuric acid pickle. The gilding was
simple electro gilding in a cyanide solution. The oxydizing on the
helmet and central cross was high polished silver dipped into heated
barium sulphide, which gives a blueish black colour. The finished
badge weighed three ounces and there was a spring clasp behind St
Dunstan, to attach the badge to a chain or sash. Sorry for too much
I am probably answering questions that were not asked.
Best regards James Miller
The guy who taught me 30 years ago told me you were a JEWELER when
you could fix your own screw ups.
Also had a sign in his shop
“sux months ugo I cudn’t speil Juler, now I are one”
David Geller
www.JewelerProfit.com
The idea of calling yourself a master jeweller smacks of
complacency. If you want to be a good jeweller there is always
something new to learn. Jewellers need to open their eyes to new
techniques and concepts. There is a great deal to learn and
understand. If you stick to a limited number of techniques, you may
well become a master of them all. That then leaves out all the other
techniques you haven’t learned about.
Even though I have been working as a silversmith and jeweller, there
are many techniques I have not mastered, and probably never will.
Apprentices who get their training in the city of London get given
the freedom of the city, but that hardly makes you a master.
We need to accept that all craftsmen need to learn and widen their
understanding of what they are doing. Calling yourself a master
craftsman might impress customers. Essentially you are telling
yourself you don’t need to learn any more.
Richard Whitehouse
We have to differentiate whether we using term as an indication of certain level of skills, or as a title denoting complete mastery of the Art. It is highly unlikely that anybody can claim the later,
I was going to stay out of this, but alas I can’t keep quiet. Let me
first say that I am also in awe of Mr. Miller’s talent and skillset.
I also feel he is in his own league. When you really examine his work
you see art that has been executed with precision and skills that are
remarkable and designed with a very discerning eye. Perhaps it’s just
my opinion, but I think it’s rare for someone to possess such a high
degree of skill and be able to design so beautifully. The artist’s
eye and the master’s touch. Wow.
I respectfully disagree with Mr Surpin in that Jewelers of America
has developed a series of tests that was designed to measure a bench
jeweler’s skill level. The conditions have been met. JA enlisted many
jewelers and at least one school to help come up with their tests.
Juergen Maertz is a traditionally trained (Germany) jeweler that
helped with the tests and wears the title Certified Master Bench
Jeweler with pride. He helped them with developing the testing. He
confided to me that he was the jeweler that performed each bench test
for each level and determined the time allotted each jeweler to be
able to complete the various projects.
Nanz Aalund wrote of her experience of becoming a journeyman in
California before the jeweler’s unions were broken. The concept of
going through the traditional steps to become a master will not work
in America at this time. How many of you would be willing to go
through all of the years starting as an indentured apprentice? I
presume very few. I know I wouldn’t. Jewelers of America was trying
to help the bench jeweler promote their skills in an honest and
un-biased manner. After completing each bench test with a proctor and
sending it to JA, it is sent to four different judges for grading. No
names are written on the papers to the judges, just a number assigned
to you. This eliminates any claims of favoritism or sabotage. Mr
Roarke mentioned the high cost of the tests and I must agree with
him. However, most of your state jewelers associations offer
scholarships to help defray the costs. In fact, I took the Senior
level test and passed it before going back two years later to try for
the Master level. So, we had twice the expense, but feel that it was
worth it.
Why did I take the tests? A hack down the road called himself a
Master Jeweler in his advertising, yet he is unable to correctly size
a ring smaller. Why does he do it? Beats me. Maybe because he’s been
in the trade for thirty years. If I lived in my garage for thirty
years it wouldn’t make me a master mechanic.
I’ve been a bench jeweler for thirty one years and stand by the JA
testing and yes I claim the title Certified Master Bench Jeweler. No
I do not compare myself to James Miller and his accomplishments.
Perhaps a better comparison would be the quarterback on the high
school football team and the best NFL pro quarterback. I am in awe of
his talent and would love to meet him someday and shake his hand.
respectfully,
James S. Cantrell CMBJ
Hi Richard.
Calling yourself a master craftsman might impress customers
I would be interested to know if you have actually looked at the
work of James Miller. http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/jmdesign.htm
Personally, I don’t think that James needs any sort of title to
impress customers. His work is eloquent enough.
Ruth.
Firstly may I thank all who sent me emails andglowing comments on my
work. Although I feel I would like to comment on a couple of the
negative submissions. Aparently there are a few craftsmen out there
who do not think anyone should call themselves a “Master”. I call
myself a Master Goldsmith, not because I think I am better than
anyone else, or that I think that there is nothing more I can learn.
I call myself a master because I have trained my own indentured
apprentices, and to them I was their master, if there is no problem
calling yourself an apprentice, there should be no problem calling
youself a master.Ibelieve that training apprentices is important,
althoughover here in the UK apprenticeships in our trade seem to be
getting rare.
Iam a little confused at Richard Whitehouse’s comments, “calling
yourself a master smacks of complacency”, I assume he is directing
his comments at me because later in his writing,he mentions
somethingthat beingmade a Freeman of the City of London does not make
you a master. This was something thatI hadmentioned, saying that Iwas
made a Freeman of the City of Londonon finishing my apprenticeship. I
was not actually trained in the City of London, although I was
indentured within the City of London.Also Richard mentions that
"jewellers need to open their eyes to new techniques and concepts"
When they first came into the country, I investigated the abilities
of Cad / Cam machines. They are marvelous for mass production and
cutting waxes, but as this is not my scene, they are of no use to
me. I tell myself that I can make beautiful items without the need
for electricity, bottled gas is useful but I can solder with a
blowpipe and the flame from an oil lamp if neccessary. At the age of
61, I am not really interested inthese new techniques of
manufacture,I prefer to stick to my old fashioned methods of
manufacture.
I do not call myself a Master Goldsmith to impress customers, as
actually Ido notneed to impressnew customers these days. I do not
want any new customers as I cannot keep the ones I have happy. I
only mentionedthe fact that I called myself a masteron the orchid
digest becauseof the thread that was started.
If you are interested in my work history, I trained at a company
called Padgett & Braham in a workshop manned by ex Garrard
craftsmen, Istarted as an apprentice in 1961 and wasworkshop manager
by 1969, I was at this company for14 years. My next employer was
McCabe McCarty, at this company I was fortunate to be among Cartier
trained craftsmen,among these craftsmenmy skill knowledge improved
dramatically. I wasat this companyfor 10 years, being workshop
manager, for half of that time. I left their employ to start my own
company in James Miller Design in 1985. Both of my previous
employers have now ceased trading, which is a shame, but a sign of
the times. Ifeel priviledged to have beenin thistrade at the
timewhen we were making some of the most beautiful pieces of the
goldsmith’s art and craft.I have had the good fortune to have worked
alongside some of my countries greatest craftsmen and have learned
something from them all.
Sorry to have gone on. I hope I have not bored you.
peace and good health to you all
James Miller
if you are jealous of my willingness to subject my skillset to the "arbitrary" judgement of others in this business, then buy your own ticket and take your own chances. Otherwise, please shut up. I learned long ago, that it was possible for anyone to produce any project in an unlimited amount of time. The trick here is to produce their projects with the materials and time that they provide.
Let me address the last excerpt first and that I will talk about
skill set.
This is as wrong as one can be. The success of a project with high
degree of difficulty has nothing to do with the time allocated to the
project, but only with persons ability to execute. I have heard this
excuse before and it has nothing to do with the reality.
About skill set.
I do not have any professional certification, nor will I ever have
one. I prefer that people form their judgement based on my work,
rather then on the certificates. I did make an exception in case of
GIA and I have a G.G. diploma. I also was trained as sculptor. I have
learnt to work with metal in the bronze foundry ( wax modeling,
chasing, etc ) I upgraded my skill set by doing antique restoration
and repairing icon cladding. Jewellery was a natural evolution of my
skill set. I worked with some remarkable jewellers, none of them used
term “Master”, but we managed to execute a few Faberge reproductions
for the Party bosses. ( I am from Russia, and we talking Brezhnev’s
period )
You mentioned that you are executing 700 special orders in a year. My
hat is off to you. I can barely manage 20 to 25; and I do not do
repairs, except my own; but that does not happen often.
Leonid Surpin
About a decade ago, I got a little tired of people arbitrarily calling themselves "masters". When Jewelers of America started testing and awarding certificates, I bought my ticket and took the ride
Even though this thread probably qualifies as a dead horse - it’s
interesting. I’d like to say first that if the criterion of a
“Master” is having nubile youg women gush over you, then I guess
James “Rock Star” Miller has that covered ;
You mentioned that you are executing 700 special orders in a year. My hat is off to you. I can barely manage 20 to 25; and I do not do repairs, except my own; but that does not happen often.
Mr. Surpin, Where can we see your work?
Andy
In regards to James Miller’s work and his education, why is there no
form of training in the U.S. that would produce someone with the
skills to produce something comparable? A fact is that the level of
skill translates to ability to earn, so if there is no training
available, there is only going to be basic skills taught, and
without discipline and repetition, one cannot achieve much more than
being a technician, putting parts together, setting stones, finishing
castings, ect.
The definition of “jeweler” can be someone who changes watch
batteries and does ring sizings.
Does anyone really think there is work being produced that will have
any historical significance because of excellent design and
craftsmanship in the U.S.? I see a few people who have the natural
ability to do very fine work with the limited education they
received. They are the exception. What this means to me, is that
people will settle and be happy with the level of mediocrity they can
achieve both in design and execution of the work they perform.
The level of competency James was required to fulfill is nowhere to
be found in the U.S.
Seems that people don’t even want to fulfill the requirements for JA
Certified Bench Jeweler. It seems that one objection usually is about
the money. The money supports a program that allows a person to have
their level of skill acknowledged in a professional context There is
a skill level achieved in the process. Knowledge, skill,
proficiency…financial reward.
In my opinion the greatest loss is that without training to gain
skill, the ability to be creative is the greatest limitation. The
path
of least resistance can be the path of least satisfaction. Most
jewelry education in the U.S. is to learn how jewelry is made. There
is no skill level requirement to become proficient to be employable.
I
am an employer. I have to spend my time teaching those who graduate
from a trade school or college so they can be employable. If they
worked for another “jeweler” I have to unlearn them from bad habits
and low expectations of poor quality work acceptably at their
previous employment. If any of you wanted to work as a car mechanic,
and you took a class on how to do basic maintenance on a car, and
then
you tried to get a job as a mechanic at a dealership it would be
ludicrous.
Obviously my not so humble opinion,
Richard Hart
Iam a little confused at Richard Whitehouse's comments, "calling yourself a master smacks of complacency", I assume he is directing his comments at me because later in his writing, he mentions somethingthat beingmade a Freeman of the City of London does not make you a master.
This is for James, and others, too. The whole issue here, and the
reason for the question to begin with, is America and American. In
almost every country in Europe that I know of, there’s a level of
learning and attainment that is classified as Master. In America
there is no such thing in jewelry, though there is in masonry and
others. So in Europe you do the things, earn the title of Master
Jeweler, and it is right and proper that one should call themselves
that. Here in America it’s a matter of ego, because there is no
earning such a thing - there’s no mechanism for it. That is the root
of the whole discussion, is that people in America have an entirely
different meaning for the word. We tend to think of it as, “He has
mastered his craft.”, not just that a 20 year old apprentice got his
master status from The Worshipful Society of Goldsmiths. In other
words, here in America the term conjures up images of an old man
who’s been working for 50 years and knows everything about it, not
just someone who’s earned a title. So, when a 30 year old here says
they are a master goldsmith, we tend to say, “Oh, how so?” “You’ve
been working for 5 years, and you call yourself a master?!?!” It’s
actually just that the word has different meanings here and there.
I don’t believe the issue should be whether one calls oneself a
master, but rather, whether the title is deserved or not. Yes, there
are those who bestow a crown upon themselves, but they give
themselves away.
In the case of Mr Miller, it most assuredly is deserved. A
masterwork speaks for itself. Some listen, some don’t.