New to jewellery making - where to start?

hi all,

new to the forums. I've been involved in selling jewellery at retails for a few years now and would like ot star creating my own pieces to sell but i dont have a clue about where to start. i want to create jewllery using metals.

Does anyone have any tips or know of any book/courses that work thorugh from a complete bigger stage and teach all the basics and work up from there?

Hello. Well, jewellery making is such an enormous field that you need to narrow it down even more than you have. Are you talking about making jewellery using precious metals, such as silver? Are you interested in gemstones, semiprecious stones, artisan beads?

I would suggest you have a good read of the posts on the forum because it is filled with valuable information from people who have started off exactly where you are. Here's a list of suggested reading too. And another

Hello Cloud!
I am in jewellery retail too, but have also been a designer / maker for about 10ish years. Can you point us in the direction of some designers whose work you admire? Then we may be able to point you in the right direction :)

Sarah

Read some books. If you are considering mainstream jewellery making using silver, which is the cheaper option, look at Basic Jewellery Making Techniques by Jinks McGrath and other books by her. Also look at lots of craft fairs to see what craft jewellers are making. Don't buy more than the most basic tools until you really need them for the job in hand. Shop around for the best prices, sometimes discount stores will have what you need. lastly watch as many free videos as you can find online. Good luck, Dennis.

Hi cloud786

The best info I can offer, is for you to scour the web and YouTube to find online tutorials showing the techniques of jewellery manufacture. Also if you can get on an evening course at a local school or adult education centre, that would be the best place to start.

Andrew

If you've got an idea of what you want to make,then I'd say that's the place to start.
If you can maintain the desire and not give up then you can learn anything.