Fashion Jewellery I

Course details

Thread and wire fashion jewellery techniques offer jewellery makers an extremely wide variety of durable and beautiful techniques for the creation of fine jewellery. This programme begins by covering materials and tools and then quickly allows for students to begin planning and creating necklaces, bracelets, earrings and more.

Professional thread and wire techniques have long been used to create a broad range of jewellery by fine jewellers; high value cultured pearls, for example are assembled using specially developed traditional techniques and materials. In today’s burgeoning market for fashion jewellery many of these established techniques have been supplanted by craft methods used for temporary designs or costume jewellery.

The JDMIS prides itself in providing established skills, expert advice on production, speed, quality and comprehensive information about material choices and qualities to ensure its designers produce superior, lasting jewellery regardless of the value of the component materials designers choose.

What will I learn?

Your development as a competent fashion jewellery designer relies on a solid foundation. During this introduction to the world of professional fashion jewellery fabrication you will learn not only new techniques and designs, but understand the types of materials as well as why and when they are used; ensuring you make good buying decisions and produce quality, lasting designs.

• New Technologies in Soft Wires bring us a wide range of fast and strong stringing techniques. Learn about different qualities of soft wire, when to use each, and how to design and create your first pieces of jewellery with a professional looking, lasting finish.
• Stringing Pearls and Gems Incorporating Knots is reserved for higher quality jewels. Learn established professional stringing techniques, alternative stringing threads and the very unique finishing methods which apply to this excellent system.
• Foundation Wirework Techniques, emphasizing accuracy, skill and speed are an important tool in every fashion designer’s arsenal. Learn to create a variety of designs and understand about wire hardness and tensile strength. Build the technique and confidence to ensure future works are made to high standards and learn unique styles & patterns suitable only for wirework designs.
• Versatile Flat Weaving provides new options to the fashion jewellery designer and is very popular in today's market. For both flat and fancy styles, learn practical and decorative uses of these weaving techniques resulting in light and stunning creations with innovative patterns to create wire designs interspersed with natural & man-made materials.
• Fancy Weaving is another popular weaving style that allows you to create comfortable, elastic patterns while using strong materials such as steel wire which will never degrade or break, providing a professional alternative to improperly manufactured jewellery using elastic cord that lasts only 6-12 months.
• Chain Maille Jewellery: The history of chain maille jewellery and its numerous modern weaves and patterns are fun and add a creative dimension to the program culminating with a multi-layered fashionable chain-maille bracelet.