So recent jewelry school graduate(2nd career) 2025 from Studio Jewelers here in NYC, I wanted to ask, are there any book recommendations to learn newer jewelry construction techniques…? I have been binge watching know how/savoir faire vids on YouTube from all the big houses(Cartier, VCA, Chaumet, etc) in Paris, and OMG, they don’t use/rarely use any of the techniques of construction I’ve learned. (Even with both Alan Revere books) IS there any recent books/places one could learn how to do some of those crazy builds(ie when to use bolts and screws vs soldering ) Thanks for any info!
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The sort of construction techniques used for high jewelry are not to be found in books, AFAIK. They are learned when you are hired as an apprentice or junior jeweler and sit next to a master who shows you how things are done.
Now, you can’t go into Cartier or Van Cleef and ask them if you can just examine some pieces for pointers. They’ve got a business to run, after all. But if you’re relatively near to one of the big auction houses, like Christie’s or Sotheby’s, you can go to the exhibitions of upcoming auctions. There you can examine pieces with a loupe, front and back. This is an excellent way to learn about the construction of high quality pieces. Pay particular attention to the articulation of bracelets, necklaces, and chandelier earrings.
Usually pieces are exhibited for about week before the actual auction. Late November - early December is prime season for auctions of important jewelry, just.in time for buying expensive Christmas presents. So check the auction houses’ websites for any sales that might be near you.
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Becoming a forensic jeweler may become a thing. I too am facinated by how these high end pieces are made, especially in a manufactured setting. Even fashion jewelry is interesting to look at. Thanks for suggesting that we try to attend an auction…Rob
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I can’t tell you all how many times I have picked up something and wondered just how would I do that? But if happens almost daily.
Don
This is my favorite topic too. I’ve found Oppi Untracht’s books to be thorough but there’s always something to be gleaned from all kinds of sources. The Internet Archive used to be a great source for 19th century instructions and free to read to boot but I haven’t checked lately. Search terms would be in “Texts” and under jewelry, casting, enameling or whatever.
Don’t be afraid to just browse to find things.
The work that puzzles me the most are the JAR pieces and those sinuous textured rings by Leen Heyne. I swear they got their knowledge at a crossroad in the middle of the night for a bargain.
Having watchmaker friends has also been useful but their tooling diverges a bit from us.
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Thank you Elliot!
Yeah luckily I have been to both auction houses over time and have been FURIOUSLY downloading picture off their sites, since they no longer produce catalogs anymore(so sad!) I love that they photography both the front and back. YES! I love the articulations, I’m trying to compile a notebook of different ways to do them so that I have a reference book for the future.
Definitely watch those Savoir Faire videos…I slow them down like others do for…other vids..wink wink. lol the wealth of knowledge that can be gleaned is amazing. It IS frustrating that there isn’t a basic handbook of how to do the more complicated assembly techniques.
What Elliot said.
My Husband Tim and I are pretty much that last generation of folks who would be apprenticed to old masters. It saddens us to loose roughly 2-3 new generations of craftsmen because their parents want them to go to college instead of the trades.
Most non jewelry folks think of it as quiet, careful, thoughtful, sophisticated gentlemen in a clean and rarefied atmosphere teaching the newbies. Far from it. The guys we learned from were highly skilled, but also mostly WWII and Korean war vets. Some were survivors of the holocaust. They were not all, but mostly a bunch of hard drinking, crusty old farts. Hazing was a normal thing. But if we could make it through the first year then we’d get a little more respect, trust, and have challenges offered. Mostly doing repairs. One of my bosses once complimented me on my repair craftsmanship. He said “ You know you’re getting pretty good at this. Any jeweler can make a pretty piece of jewelry with fresh metal and gems. But being able to save a piece of shit that’s been repaired one too many times with crap solder takes real skills and craftsmanship.” It would be a few more years before we could do custom.
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