Improvers Course FAQ’s

Do we need prior experience to do this class?

Yes! This is designed as a follow on course to our introductory course. You need to know certain techniques as they will be improved on in this course.

Do we get to keep the jewellery we make?

Yes you do! There’s an added extra for the material, not much, but we will charge you the trade price for the jewellery you have cast- this includes a casters cost and the price of the metal you use.

Can someone under the age of 18 take part?

Unfortunately as this is a very hands on course with some dangerous equipment we can accept 16- 18 year olds but anyone under 18 will need to be accompanied by an adult, and for them to do the course as well, this is due to very limited space in our classrooms so space is like gold dust!

I have my own design – can I bring it along with me and make it in this course?

Absolutely! This is a course that welcomes you to bring your designs in, we have certain new techniques we want to teach you, but there is time to look at jewellery you are making and help you solve any issues with it.

I have a stone I would like to set in this course, can I?

Yes you can! We would need to take a look at it and see that it is something that can be done with the skills you are learning and with the equipment we have but all being well, absolutely!

I want a very particular stone to be set, can you get it for me?

Unfortunately we don’t get stones in specifically for people, as they are so personal with different qualities and colours to them. But we can give you the two websites we use to buy gemstones.

They are: https://www.wardgemstones.com/ https://ruppenthal.com/

What stones do you have that we can use on this course?

We have lots! The range is too big to have everything photographed, and online, but we are very confident that you will find something you like in our box of treasures : ) And all at very reasonable trade prices.

I would like to get the jewellery I make gold plated as I don’t wear silver, is this possible?

Yes! Leave it with us after the course and we will send it off to get it hard gold plated with 2 microns of 18ct gold plate. This process costs €25 per item + postage ( if you can’t collect it from our shop ) and it takes approx 2 weeks.

Can I make the jewellery in solid gold?

This uses slightly different techniques, and as you are still quite new to this it may not come out as perfectly as you would like and gold is very expensive, but if you would really like to use gold, then yes we can help you!

I would like to engrave some letters into my jewellery, can I?

We don’t have the tools for engraving and it really is a different skill altogether, however we can send it off to get it engraved for you. This costs approx €30 per piece depending on what you would like engraved. We can give you an exact quote once we have more details from you.

If you have any other questions not listed here, please feel free to reach out by contacting Silverworks here.