I have heard for years complaints about “Why isn’t there a national aglet day?”. Well. Let’s get started on fixing that. First, make sure you go to Facebook and like the following page. Aglets, Aiglets, and Lace Tags. Also make sure to join the group Aglets, Aiglets, and Lace Tags Community.
-
-
It is my hope that this competency profile can be used by administrators in trade schools, 4-year colleges & universities, Postsecondary vocational schools, technical colleges and high school trade classes. I will be using this as a basis for my teaching and the book I hope to write very soon helping others learn the basics of goldsmithing.
-
If you are reading this, I hope you came to my blog because you have decided that having a career in the jewelry trade might be fun and interesting.I have no idea what you think you will find here. I also am not sure what you need to hear so all I can do is try to connect with written words and try to point you in a good direction using my own experiences as a model. So we quickly circle back to the original question. “How do I start?“ I should begin with how I started as a jeweler.As…
-
About fine silver A few weeks ago on Facebook I saw a post about the correct way to anneal fine silver. Being a professional jeweler, I answered with the comment that fine silver does not need annealing as it has no copper or other alloying metals in it and as such, can not work harden. Well. my opinion was summarily dismissed and the conversation went on with people, mostly hobbyists, either supporting or arguing against my claim. Being the type of personality that I am, I decided to get to the truth. So with several weeks of research, I have…
-
Below is the description that I share to let people know what I do as a Jewelry Educator.I felt it might be wise to look at this statement, “deconstruct” it and expand on it so you can see my reasoning for writing what I did. it has a lot to talk about and even more importantly, think about.My statement: As a Jewelry Educator, I strive to blend historical and modern methods of jewelry design and metalwork via lectures, teaching, and hands on learning in a variety of traditional and contemporary materials and processes. I teach the formal principles and elements…
-
"Can you tell me what this is worth?" My standard answer is "It is worth what you paid for it. If you want a professional appraisal I charge $60 an hour, minimum two hours to evaluate and determine the value." "But I don't want an appraisal, I only want you to tell me what it is worth."
-
I have seen that many online educational videos tend to assume that you have some experience with bench work. Many also assume that you have access to tools. Lots of tools. Very expensive tools. This was a pet peeve of mine when I was just starting in the 80's and it seems that nothing has really changed.
-
Before starting and sitting down at your bench or workspace look around. Just because everything seems ok at first glance, do not become compliant.
-
This video shows how to make a basic, but often used tool at the jewelers bench. The sanding stick. You should make several of these in different grits of paper.
-
There are very few things that can be said that are the same for every jewelry store out there, but one of them is that if you ask and dig around at the very back of the safe, you will find a box.