New approach school bench I class

Hi all. I would like to ask if anyone has taken the Bench Jeweler I
class at New Approach School in Virginia Beach, VA. I am enrolled
for the class in March and would like to know what to expect. Is the
class worth the money? How much do you learn? I am new to the
jewelry field and I would love to get into jewelry repair. There is
a great need for it where I live. I have learned a few things on my
own like simple ring sizing, some simple stone setting. My soldering
skills are getting better, but I still have loads to learn. I have
enjoyed reading the posts on this site, and have learned a great
deal. I am pleased to find a place where jewelers are willing to
help each other. I have noticed that some jewelers are very
hush-hush about the business. I guess they fear competition.
Anyway, I would like to gain some insight/feedback on this class from
anyone who has participated in it.

Thanks so much.
Cindy Marks

Last summer I had the pleasure of taking the one week advanced stone
setting class from Blaine Lewis. The class was awesome. Blaine had
so many tricks and tips to pass along. The teaching methods were
excellent. He was very thorough and made sure you understood the
concepts and did a lot of one on one teaching. I went into the class
expecting good things and was overwhelmed with the innovative
teaching. Blaine has a true passion for teaching. If you have the
opportunity to go through his school, I would heartily recommend it!
As far as the expense, my father was right, you get what you pay for.

James S. Cantrell CMBJ

Cindy, I have not taken that particular course but I have taken a
week long course at New Approach last spring and all I can say was
that it was awesome! I’ m saving up to take another one.

They have the latest high tech equipment to learn with, each bench
is fully loaded with all the necessary tools you will need for each
project, (no sharing of tools), the teachers are skilled and patient,
the video camera they have set up as a teaching mechanism up is
amazing, a perfect view of exactly what the teacher is doing and
questions are always welcome.

It’s a first rate operation, one of the best schools (in my opinion)
in the country to learn a new skill or brush up on the ones we
already have and their really nice people too! Not to mention
Virginia Beach, must I say more??

Enjoy!
Laurie

Hi Cindy, several years ago I took the advanced stone setting class
from Blaine - absolutely worth the cost.

Blaine rocks! He is a great teacher, dedicated to innovation and
sharing what he knows.

I’m looking forward to getting out there to take another class. It
was one of the best investments I’ve ever made in my jewelry
business. Michelle

creating what you want in platinum, gold and silver