You mentioned Bobby White. I would say that Pablo Cimadevilla has to be mentioned as well, impressive pieces and great technique. Both of them feature excellent video editing skills.
If you want more than jewellers making jewellery videos, you can also get explanations and theory in Jaco’s Youtube channel: Goldsmith’s Workshop Secrets (jacothejeweller).
Some of my favorite old books you might check out (if you haven’t already) are Herbert Maryon’s “Metalwork and Enamelling” (He restored some of the Sutton Hoo treasure for the British Museum) and “On Divers Arts” by the monk Theophilus. Both are available from Dover publishing.
Chad’s Silversmithing is pretty good too. His process is interesting in that he doesn’t seem to fiddle with very fine motor skills but still makes interesting and nice-looking things.
Hi,
regarding paying for content, i think that a lot of time and money can go into the making of training videos…bench time, computer time, photo/ audio/ video equipment and editing software, lighting…as well as website development, marketing, course planning, tools and equipment, materials and supplies expense, etc…
i really appreciate jewelers who make a commitment to passing on knowledge, and i can understand the need to approach it as a business so that it can be financially sustainable and endure…
jewelry training solutions has hours and hours and hours of very comprehensive videos on fabrication, stone setting, etc
https://www.jewellerytrainingsolutions.com.au/
julie
I totally get that it can take time and money to produce educational videos, but at the same time I think the idea of it being such a big investment is kind of a cop-out. With the advancements in technology, and the fact that quite literally everyone has a powerful recording device in their pockets (not to mention that uploading to YouTube is completely free), it seems a shame that jewelers en-mass aren’t just recording little snippets of what they’re doing, and passing along that knowledge.
There’s a misnomer that it has to be some highly produced, Netflix level documentary of what it takes to display a particular skill (and I get that when it comes to algorithms and being seen, that has to be, at the very least, in the back of your mind). We, as metalsmiths, can gain so much from just some videos that are taken with a $10 phone mount.
I guess what I’m getting at is that the whole idea of a training method for jewelers that is stuck behind a pay-wall that is almost always far too expensive is hurting our trade more than anyone is willing to admit. What we need, at the moment, is information and techniques to be shared freely and openly, period. If that requires the student to make the decision to buy tools, then that’s fine. But keeping the information locked away, unless you pay, just further drives the knife in to a skill set that so many of us are passionate about.
Yes and no. There are many ways that experienced jewelers can make enough money to survive and teaching is one of them. Some teach as a primary source of income and some teach to supplement their jewelry sales. I think it would, in those cases, be ill-advised to say that what they are doing is counter to the survival of skill sets. I also support the size of their fees for teaching as a reflection of what the market will bear. In the field, we charge for our jewels what the market will bear, so why not same expectation for skills-teaching fees? Skilled teachers have spent their careers learning those skills, and why should they not charge for lessons that they know to be essential and that have taken them years to acquire? I also believe that the free exchange of information in our field is what makes it a field I want to be in, and in which I have learned and shared information in person and here and on other online platforms. The value of this sharing can be both monetary and/or makes one feel part of a sharing community. We an all do both.
I get that you don’t want to pay for a video. Are you willing to signup for a 5 year stint as an apprentice? Traditionally low or no pay. Legally bound to the atlier for the time period. First year or two learning polishing…..
Or as a good friend in the business told me - “ I spent the first 6 months sitting beside the master, touching nothing, observing everything.. then I got to start touching tools…. 18 months before I was allowed to set a stone.
Some how, paying to learn a techique seems reasonable. No one is hiding information, we are all willing to pass it on - but it takes time away from making a living to give away information. Information is as valuable as money, maybe more so. We have invested time and money to learn and perfect our craft. No one is entitled to demand it for free.
Hi JudyH and All,
I get what you’re saying, Judy. There is no free lunch and everyone in this craft has had to pay some dues. That said, the days of arcane secrets and long servitude making coffee, running for lunches and polishing for a year are, I think, mostly over. Almost everything is on video on Youtube…not all is the greatest quality, but it is there for you to learn from and judge the quality of. I knew we were in a new era when I asked my auto mechanic whether he watched Youtube videos and he said yes, all the time. They watch the video rather than going to the manual as before. There are also classes aplenty. Some are expensive, like New Approach, but lots of elementary classes are very reasonable. I learned silver soldering at a few weekend workshops in Nashville at the local Gem and Mineral Society workshop. I wouldn’t say it made me a master, but it did give me the tools to learn on my own. Today if you want to learn to set stones, and you can learn from videos and written procedures, there are all of Gerry Lewy’s writings and videos.All you need do is practice…a lot.
The apprentice system produced some very fine craftspeople, but it was a product of a rigid class society like feudal times and the Victorian era. Another issue is that jewelers need skilled workers and there is a shortage, so there is often no reason to hold someone back and take advantage of their nearly free labor.. They will teach you all you can learn as fast as you can learn it.
I know this is a jolt to some who came up thru the old system, but I just don’t think a lot of this stuff requires years of learning if you are a quick study. People’s ability to learn new skills varies enormously. Some play Chopin at 5 and some never learn. In faceting, which I know well, a few weeks ago I saw someone cut a 100 facet stone as a first stone. It took him a while to do it, but once ie got the hang of it, it was a very, very good effort. Today I saw someone post their first effort and it looked like a mis-shapen ice cube. vastly different native abilities.
I think there is a middle ground between telling people jewelry skills take a lifetime to learn and misleading people into thinking they can be a bench jeweler in three weeks.
-royjohn
Hi,
I think i like learning more than making!
When i was new to jewelry making, i scoured the state for local classes..community college, adult ed centers, and other popular renowned “known” places of jewelry learning…i bought books, took classes, and workshops, discovered tools…found ganoksin’s Orchid:clap:t3:
and! Gerry Lewi’s writing on Stone Setting
https://userblogs.ganoksin.com/gerrylewy/about-gerrys-blog/
i didn’t really use the internet back then…but it is now a vast source of knowledge…so many people share!…
i subscribed to Peter Keep’s Jewelry Training Solutions:
https://www.jewellerytrainingsolutions.com.au/
and subscribed to Andrew Berry’s At the Bench website, although my personality is a bit too impatient for his format…
and frequented many free youtube channels such as:
Melissa Muir
Nancy LT Hamilton
Leslie Villarreal
and various other stone setting, diamond setting channels
I have not yet purchased courses from Lucy Walker Jewelry, but the content looks comprehensive
i had the opportunity to attend the Revere Academy in San Fransisco (before it closed it’s doors)
i had the opportunity to go to the GRS Training center…and am planning to take a few more classes there
i want to go and take classes at The New Approach School next…
and now…my unicorn dream is…to attend classes in Italy, at the:
it would be so awesome to spend a few months there…i really need to make that happen in my lifetime!
julie
I am pretty much self taught, other than for the wonderful ideas that I have gotten from ganoksin. I did get a great start learning from our father. I looked long and hard for classes and training opportunities that I could afford, but never really found them. In retrospect, I should have gone to art school, but life got into the way. Now that I am well into, if not towards the end, of this journey, I am specifically looking for engraving and enameling training. Again, life seems to get on the way. I am sitting here typing without my glasses because I have a large head bandage on from a cochlear implant surgery that I had yesterday. I will now spend the next 6 - 12 kmonths learning how to hear again. This is a great discussion with lots of good ideas about where and how to learn more. Regarding people who know a lot passing it on to those who still have a lot to learn, I think this is one of our responsibilities. Maybe because I am a teacher, I feel that this is my responsibility and I am happy to pass on what I know, no strings attached. Just do the same for me when I ask a question. As for paying for formal traiining. Yes we should. Sorry for the typos. No glasses and whatever they pumped into me to put me to sleep yesterday is still coursing through my body…Rob
Hi Rob,
Keep us posted on how the implant is doing, that sounds great!
I was fortunate to know an engraver…she met a gentleman man who offered to teach her western engraving…she went on to design a western inspired line and make masters for a company that produces jewelry, and also engrave guns, spurs, and horse gear…and sets stones…she became interested in horses, learning to ride, and now sells her designs at horse riding events and her website.
years ago, she offered to spend a day teaching me some basic engraving skills when she came to visit her sister…she is so wonderful!
As far as formal classes go, i recommend GRS Training Center in Emporia Kansas..
Personally, i would say that graver preparation is key (sharp edges, proper angles (shape, face,heel) as is graver stock…a mirror finished cut requires a mirror polished face and heel…in my opinion, GRS C-Max gravers achieve the best polish, with diamond polishing wheels (mounted rotary)…properly sharpened gravers are safer and perform better (i highly recommend a power hone, diamond wheels, apex sharpening system, and quick change collets and handles, to save time and sanity)…(i attempted to sharpen gravers by hand for years…i got all the stones…the fixtures…but my shoulder/ arm/ hand/ brain just was not able to do it well…)…i have also heard great things about the Lindsay Graver Sharoening System
and being able to see the work clearly is beneficial, and microscopes really help to see…(my vision is not great)
after all that, learning basic cuts would be next…then learning how to apply and combine cuts to achieve patterns…how to reveal settings…proper depth of cuts…for me personally, if i see it being done, i can figure it out. so youtube and instagram videos, under the scope, really help me here…
I was fortunate to be near a place locally that had enameling classes…after taking classes, i would say that there are enameling books and videos that can teach similarly, without traveling to a class…for me, having access to colors would be key…i recommend the thompson enamel sampler kit…it has all the thompson colors…a nice amount of each that you can try before buying bigger containers of a single color…i had planned to make an enamelled color chart, but alas i have not yet done that…i should add that to my to-do list now!
https://www.riogrande.com/product/thompson-enamels-complete-color-sampler/119308GP/?code=119308
Ricky Frank has many informative enamelling videos in Rio Grande’s Learning Hub
https://www.riogrande.com/search-page/?q=Enameling&tab=knowledge
my favorite books for technical information are:
lso much to learn out there!
julie
Julie…You are correct that there is much to learn and, as a result, tools to buy. I asked the surgeon if I could have the burrs that he used to carve into my head to create a place for the implant since they would just be thrown away. They are just basic carbide burs #1,3 and 5. He gave them to me. I explained that I could use them in my shop. He said that he has never been asked for them before. My dentist gives me used diamond burrs. Lots of fun…Rob
