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Has anyone been on a course at the London Jewellery School? If so, would you recommend them? I'm thinking of signing up for their one day Polishing and Finishing Masterclass and perhaps the soldering Masterclass. Any other London based courses anyone has tried and would recommend?
That was the lot who were offering a pittance for new (experienced) tutors. So... While I have no experience of their courses, I'd regard it with caution.
Thanks Peter, useful to know.
The name of the school will not be as relevant to you as the name of the tutor. Once you know that you might be able to research their biography.
If you are on twitter make contact with master polisher (he polishes Theo Fennell for example and is a lovely person) @goldpolisher. Stephen m goldsmith . He's the tutor you want and does classes occasionally. (mention my name!)
I contacted a number of online tutors and the only people who got back to me were the London Jewellery School, so I booked a class with them. I did the beginners-silver-jewellery course as one day private tuition with Michelle Leaver. I agree with all the positive comments other students have said about it on the website.Quote:
Originally Posted by TDA20
Thanks Dennis, Pearlescence and handmadeblanks.
Will try and contact the Master Polisher and either way will give the London Jewellery School a go and report back :)
I've done both of those classes (have done a lot with LJS).
Polishing and finishing was useful for me in terms of cementing the amount of work that you need to put in to get a nice finish. From memory you pierce out a copper shape and then spend a while working through the different grades of sandpaper etc polishing by hand to get a mirror finish. You can also work on finish of your own pieces. I can't remember the afternoon but think it was possibly about achieving different finishes, satin etc.
Soldering masterclass was a useful class that gave confidence, we worked at soldering a hollow shape and various practice pieces involving multiple solder joins, small solder joins etc. I remember this one being useful in that i realised that you can use the same grade of solder for multiple joins on a piece without the piece necessarily coming apart. Bit of a double edged sword as now I am lazy and use hard solder for almost everything unless there are many small solder joins right next to each other, and even then I might have a go doing it all in hard rather than going to medium, easy etc :-"
To be honest you can learn a lot of the skills from books, video tutorials etc but sometimes it's nice to have someone with you to give confidence or to see what tools you genuinely need prior to shelling out. It depends what stage you're at in the learning process.
Thanks Belette, your feedback on the courses is really helpful.
I'm only a few months into my journey and have lots to learn. Have been doing a lot of reading and watching YouTube videos but agree the input of a tutor can really aid in building confidence. I've booked both so will let you know how I get on. Are there any of their other courses you would particularly recommend?
I did the metal clay package: http://www.londonjewelleryschool.co....class-package/
and the silver jewellery class package: http://www.londonjewelleryschool.co....class-package/
I enjoyed making the spinner ring and domed pendant as part of the intermediate silver class, and I made some pieces that I actually love wearing, other than that the most 'useful' classes were probably polishing and finishing and soldering masterclass, both of which I see you've booked (and possibly already done!). I always enjoy playing with their rolling mills :)
With LJS I would say it is useful to go along with ideas if you are on a project based class. E.g. intermediate silver I took along some tiny printed animal shapes to use as guides to pierce out, as a result ended up with a nice fishbowl pendant. If I'd drawn the fish freehand in a rush during the class it it wouldn't have looked as nice.
With the more practical skill based classes I think the value is in understanding both the process and what type of tools will get you a nice result. I hadn't fully grasped the importance of painstakingly working through files, sandpaper, tripoli, rouge before doing the class, for example, and had been relying on wet/dry sanding sheet and polishing papers. Soo much quicker and better finish with a rotary tool and the right grades of sandpaper.
Hi Belette,
Thanks again for the info on LJS courses.
I agree that it helps to have some design ideas for the project based courses.
I did do the soldering masterclass and the polishing and finishing class a few months ago but forgot to report back. The soldering masterclass covered making a simple band ring, sweat soldering, making a box and attaching findings such as ear wires. It also touched on chain making. It was a good confidence builder for soldering. Please excuse the messy samples!
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The polishing and finishing class started with a bit of piercing, then learning how to get a high shine finish on a flat object. The afternoon was spent experimenting with different texturing methods, patination, oxidation and reticulation. They gave you little books to put samples of the different textures in.
Since then I have also done the Beginner's Enamelling and the Chain Making classes. The enamelling class was a great introduction as, despite reading Linda Darty's book, I was a bit nervous about trying it at home. The only thing that was a bit disappointing about the class is there was no explanation or demonstration of torch enamelling, only kiln enamelling. Regardless, I feel I could take on torch enamelling at home one day...
The chain making class was fun and learnt a few new techniques but most of that could have been got from a book. Was nice meeting other novice jewellers nonetheless.
That's all my courses for now. I am following the Stephen Goldsmith on Facebook and Twitter as recommended by Pearlescence. He does have some courses coming up at Goldsmith's soon but sadly I can't get out of work those days :(
Hopefully will be able to go next year.
Tess