Bead Setting and Custom Jewelry

This course is designed to take the skills learned in Introduction to Jewelry Manufacturing and fine-tune them for use in custom jewelry and bead setting. This is not a licensed course and does not offer skills toward employment as a bench jeweler without first completing Introduction to Jewelry Manufacturing. However, this course can help give students a deeper understanding of the jewelry trade, their personal style in bench jewelry and jewelry design, as well as further mentorship from Jason Chandler in honing their skills. In order to take this course, completion of our Introduction to Jewelry Manufacturing Course is required.

Bead Setting and Custom Jewelry has four main focuses throughout the course:

Bead Setting

During this course, students are taught under the instruction of Ben Sipp to execute a variety of bead setting techniques. They vary in bead number and placement as well as stone size and layout, all building up to the skills needed to complete quality pave settings.

Hand Engraving

Throughout this term, students are taught under the remote instruction of Tira Mitchell of engraver.com who walks them through a variety of techniques for hand engraving. This includes graver anatomy and sharpening, hand lettering and layout, as well as some engraving motifs. These all build up to teaching the skills needed for hand engraving on curved surfaces, such as on rings.

Design to Finish Custom Manufacturing

Throughout the term, Jason Chandler teaches a variety of techniques for designing and producing custom jewelry using traditional (wax carving) and newer (CAD design and printing) techniques to create models for casting and finishing.

Rubber Molds and Jewelry Production

Student make molds for a variety of jewelry pieces throughout the term. Jason guide them through mold materials, best packing and cutting practices, and decision making regarding when and why to use molds in jewelry reproduction. The skills associated with mold making are vital for any jeweler looking to reproduce existing pieces and for larger scale production. During this course students make molds using a total of 5 pounds of natural rubber.

Course Structure

While taking this course, students are expected to manage multiple projects at once while keeping due dates in mind. Unlike during Introduction to Jewelry Manufacturing, the sections of this course overlap with one another. This creates an environment very similar to that which working bench jewelers face. With multiple ongoing projects, new content, and deadlines to keep in mind, students must manage their time efficiently and consider their whole workload while planning their days and weeks. Students who successfully complete this course will be better prepared to meet expectations in the working conditions that come with bench jewelry.