Do we need prior experience to do this class?
Absolutely not this is a course designed for absolute beginners, or those who have maybe done
the odd class a while back. We teach you all the basics of jewellery making from scratch.
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 whatever it is you use at the end of the course.
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?
Unfortunately as this is a skills learning type of course, each class has a set outline learning a new technique. It would be too hard to teach in the time allocated if everyone had their own designs, with some students taking up more attention from the teacher than others. Once you have completed this course if you would like to do the improvers course then we can look at more specific designs as this is all about developing the skills you already have.
I have a stone I would like to set in this course, can I?
We would need to see the stone to let you know, as long as it isn’t too big or too small, and is cut well ( as in oval or round not an unusual shape ) then it should be fine. But as this is your first time gem setting we need to see it before we can guarantee it. By all means bring it along with you and we will let you know, otherwise we have gem stones that are for sale and you can chose one of them.
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?
Not in this course, as you are learning it would be a waste of metal and also it is slightly different working with gold so you would need to learn that, and this is not the course for it. Once you have completed the introductory course and want to do the improvers course this is something we can look at.
I would like to engrave some letters into my jewellery, can I?
Unfortunately even though engraving seems simple- it isn’t, so we would need to 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.