Goldsmith Art Course

Tour overview

THE SCHOOL

School is in the city center of Florence, it consists of a large, well-equipped workshop with individual jewellers’ workbenches, tools and equipment for the various specializations, machinery for carrying out the complete precision-casting cycle and classrooms for both freehand and computerized drawing and designing.
Each student receives a complete kit of work tools. The jewellery courses are designed both for newcomers to this craft and those who already have basic knowledge and wish to learn more about specialized techniques. Held by master artisans and professionals in this sector, the wide variety of classes with different durations are designed to adapt to the skills, capacities, demands and objectives of each individual student.
Courses are in Italian but there is possibility to have a support in English or Japanese
At the end of each course students receive an attendance certificate indicating the period and number of hours of the course.

Duration of the course from 4 weeks to 2 years
Daily lesson, morning and afternoon, Monday to Friday.

The registration fee includes tools and equipment, certificates and the course material.

Goldsmith Course

Duration: 4 weeks / 3 months / 6 months / 1 year / 2 years

Jewellery making is understood as the series of techniques and practices implemented in order to create the metallic structure of the piece of jewellery: from the preparation of the metal sheet and wires, up
to the creation of the metal structure.
Therefore, the jewellery course first includes a study of the characteristics and behaviour of metals during the work process. The second step is the construction of the actual piece of jewellery.
The final processes include finishing of the items created with smoothing, dressing, polishing and various other jewellery finishing techniques.

Engraving

Duration: 95h in 12 weeks

Engraving is a technique used in the jewellery trade to embellish and decorate all types of items.
It entails the removal of material from the item itself, in the traditional manner, without the use of machines.
The term artistic craftsmanship is synonymous with Florence, talent, great dexterity, genius, outstanding creativity and last but not least, technique: all indispensable elements for creating a work of art, a unique piece of jewellery.
The learning phases of this jewellery decorating technique are as follows: drawing, preparation of the tools, correct use of chisels, hands-on practice, modelling small bas-relief figures, the cloisonné and champlevé techniques for enamelling, engraving coats-of-arms in “negative” for seals, damascening and finishing.

Designing and Drawing

Duration: 1 month / from 3 month to whenever you want.

The aim of the jewellery design and drawing courses is to help acquire the necessary graphic skills for the profession of jewellery designer and for jewellery production in general.
From freehand sketching to flat and descriptive geometry, from technical drawing to mixed illustration techniques.

Basic design course
The basic course in jewellery design is for students who have little or no knowledge of design and who wish to master the basics of freehand drawing and try their hand at the representation techniques used in jewellery making.
Technical drawing course
The technical jewellery drawing course is designed for students who wish to master the concepts of pure geometry using the orthogonal projection method (Monge method) and the axonometric method, in order to represent jewellery with the greatest precision, irrespective of size and shape.
Advanced design course
The advanced jewellery design course is for students who are already skilled in the use of the tools and techniques addressed in the basic course.

3D Modelling

Duration: 4 or 8 weeks

The courses in computer graphics for jewellery-making are designed for designers who wish to enter the world of computer-aided 3D jewellery modelling.
Each computer design course is completed with the creation of a model designed by the student with the assistance of the teacher. In this way, the virtual idea- project- creation process becomes “real”, thereby allowing the student to become familiar with a series of possible problems that could arise during the steps of the actual procedure and are indirectly linked to use of the computer and the 3D printer.

Basic Rhinoceros course
The basic Rhinoceros course is designed for those who have never used the programme before or only have rudimentary knowledge of it.
Advanced Rhinoceros course
TThe advanced Rhinoceros course is designed for those who have already acquired basic knowledge of the programme and want to perfect their jewellery modelling techniques.
Course in rendering with Flamingo
The course in rendering with Flamingo is designed for those who wish to acquire expertise in photorealistic- quality rendering without necessarily having to become professional graphic artists.

Jewellery repair

Duration: 24h in 4 weeks

With this course the student learns jewelry repair techniques and the use of the machines and utensils
necessary for jewellery repair activities: micro-drill, welder, fume extraction.
It also includes information about the techniques and processes of jewellery making in order to understand how the various metals behave in the course of repairing operations.
The ultimate aim of the course is to prepare the student to be able to operate on any piece of jewellery: rings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets, and to carry out any necessary size adjustments. The student will also be able to repair clasps in general as well as the clasps of valuable watches and eyewear.

Micro-pavé

Duration: 36h in 4 weeks

This technique consists of ‘paving’ the entire surface with tightly-packed rows of stones, in such a way that every single surface, whatever its size, is entirely covered with the precious stone.
The use of this technology permits greater precision in the traditional steps of piercing and setting.
The micro pavé technique also makes it possible to reduce to a minimum the amount of metal visible between the stones by creating tiny ‘grains’ or beads to hold them in place, so miniscule that they become almost invisible to the naked eye.
Each bead is rounded and perfectly and evenly smoothed, eliminating all imperfections and roughness, so that even the most delicate fabric can slide over them without getting snagged.

Gemstone cutting and faceting

Duration: 36h in 4 weeks

Basic course
The contents of the course include information on techniques for the cutting and faceting of gemstones, basic gemmological information to permit recognition of the material to be cut, analysis of the cutting diagrams and the Gem Cad software.
The practical part will be devoted to the actual stone cutting and the use of the machinery and all the mechanical equipment.
The aim of the course is to prepare the student to be able to execute classic 57-facet cuts.
At the end of the course the student will be able to carry out simple cuts on gemstones of average hardness.

Specialization course
The contents of the course include information on techniques for the cutting and faceting of minerals and basic gemmological information about minerals of a grade 9 hardness (such as rubies and round brilliants), the use of diamond powder for cleaning of the cut stone/gem, study of the fantasy cut diagrams and use of the cutting wheels.
The practical part will be devoted to the actual stone cutting and the use of the machinery and all the necessary mechanical equipment: horizontal faceting machine, the graduated cutting arm and the cabochon machine for practising free cuts and cabochon cuts on materials of grade 7 hardness (such as amethysts) and fantasy cuts on crystals of grade 7 hardness.
At the end of the specialisation course the student will be able to carry out any kind of cut and repair on any type of mineral except diamonds.

Stone-setting

Duration: 132h in 12 weeks

Stone-setting, or stone-embedding, is the procedure for fixing the gemstones in various ways inside the cavities previously prepared by the goldsmith.
The skill and expertise that setters must possess stem first and foremost from their precision, care and experience in using the traditional techniques, instruments, tools and equipment.

Fretwork

Duration: 96h in 12 weeks

Fretwork (or perforation) is essential for the construction of jewellery; it is indispensable for cutting out the various parts making up the jewel from the raw sheet, which will then be assembled and welded together. Perforation allows for obtaining a myriad of different types of decoration and ornamentation in order to make the jewel lighter, and more elegant with alternating full and empty parts.
The perforation also makes it possible to prepare for embellishing special types of settings.The embellishing entails the enlarging of the part below the perforation; in this way the gemstone is also able to obtain light from underneath and the rear of the jewel is thereby enhanced with a particularly valuable finish.
In addition to the embellishing, a study of the traditional Florentine “beehive” decoration is also foreseen.

 

Partner: Metallo Nobile