Bench jeweler
Encyclopedia
A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of jewelry-making skills to make and repair jewelry. The jewelry making arts can be subdivided into a very great many categories of specialized skills. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration goldsmith
ing, stonesetting
, engraving
, fabrication
, Wax Carving
, lost-wax casting, electroplating
, forging
, and polishing
. In order to understand how a bench jeweler fits into the process of jewelry making, it is important to understand the process itself.
When a production piece is contemplated, it may go through a design process that can range from one person with an idea to a full scale planning stage involving teams of artists and marketing professionals. Eventually that design will need to be made into a real piece of metal jewelry, which is generally called a model
, and the worker who makes it is generally the model maker
. This is often considered the highest form of craftsmanship, as the piece must be made true to the design and also to most exacting standards. A good model maker
is, along with a fine watchmaker
among the most technically skilled workers in any trade. After the model
is made and found to be what is desired, it is molded or perhaps entered into a machining
process to make copies. Assuming it is molded, afterward multiples of the piece are cast from the mold. See lost-wax casting, which article has a sculptural inclination, though the principles are the same for jewelry casting. The cast pieces will likely need a variety of work done to them, including filing to remove the skin left from casting and prepare for polishing, straightening parts, rounding and sizing rings, and assembling many various parts together using solder
. Although the method used is called soldering, it is actually a form of brazing
, using "solders" of the metal being worked, i.e. gold solders for gold pieces, silver solder for silver pieces, etc. All of this is the work of bench jewelers, who at this level are sometimes known as production workers in some arenas. In this context the bench jeweler, often known simply as a goldsmith
, is responsible for all of the main work involved in turning a raw casting into a piece of jewelry - filing it, straightening it, assembling parts or adding settings for stones, repairing any problems that might have occurred and preparing it for stonesetting
and polishing
.
to be cast into metal, or it can involve very complex fabrication skills building the piece out of the actual metal using a wide variety of skills and tools. Very often both model making and special order involve gemstone
s, and thus the pieces must be designed and made to properly hold those.
s, perhaps to the polishing
department and maybe to stonesetting
. Generally there will be at least one model maker, who may also do special orders, or there may be a dedicated special order department and sometimes even repair, depending on the size of the shop. Usually there is also at least one foreman and also a front office handling management. In addition there might be engravers, enamelists, perhaps a machine shop and others, depending on the product being made. A good shop behaves as a team, with each department doing their part and the work passing back and forth between them as needed. In this situation each worker is a specialist at their job, and though they may have a broader background that becomes useful at times, they generally will not enter into another department's expertise. Each department also recognizes the worker's abililities, so that there may be ten workers called "goldsmith
s", but one will have simple skills, and another may have greatly higher ability, and so the more or less challenging jobs are assigned accordingly.
, a bit of engraving
, and perhaps other skills that widen their abilities. For a long time throughout history the model was as described above under "Anatomy of a Jewelry Shop", with a fairly strict delineation of responsibilities. In the modern day, there are a great many jewelers who do it all, from design to stonesetting
to finishing with fair ability. Whether it is used in one context or another, there is no doubt that the bench jeweler is the jewelry worker who does the major metal work and the brazing
, and its meaning can also be taken more widely to mean one who is more versatile in the trade than merely an assembler of parts. The term can and has been used to describe any of the work described above - model making, special order, repair, assembly, and more, though it is probably becoming a term to describe an all-around jeweler more and more in recent years.
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
ing, stonesetting
Stonesetting
Stonesetting is the art of securely setting or attaching gemstones into jewelry. Stonesetting can also be used in referring to setting a stone or orb believed to have magical properties into a staff.-Cabochon and facet:...
, engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
, fabrication
Fabrication (metal)
Fabrication as an industrial term refers to building metal structures by cutting, bending, and assembling. The cutting part of fabrication is via sawing, shearing, or chiseling ; torching with handheld torches ; and via CNC cutters...
, Wax Carving
Wax Carving
Wax carving is the shaping of wax using tools usually associated with machining: rotary tools, saws, files and burins or gravers. Actual knives can be used and most certainly are, but the hardness of the material is such that they are not the ideal tool, generally.To carve wax, the proper size and...
, lost-wax casting, electroplating
Electroplating
Electroplating is a plating process in which metal ions in a solution are moved by an electric field to coat an electrode. The process uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal...
, forging
Forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: '"cold," "warm," or "hot" forging. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to 580 metric tons...
, and polishing
Polishing
Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action, leaving a surface with a significant specular reflection In some materials polishing is also able to reduce diffuse reflection to...
. In order to understand how a bench jeweler fits into the process of jewelry making, it is important to understand the process itself.
Jewelry manufacture
In general terms, there are two major categories of jewelry production. First is production jewelry, which is to say that many copies of an original design are made and sold using processes such as molding, casting, stamping and similar techniques. The other is original, one of a kind work. The bench jeweler will be a factor in many facets of the process, depending on what is needed and the skills of the worker.When a production piece is contemplated, it may go through a design process that can range from one person with an idea to a full scale planning stage involving teams of artists and marketing professionals. Eventually that design will need to be made into a real piece of metal jewelry, which is generally called a model
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
, and the worker who makes it is generally the model maker
Model maker
A model maker is a professional craftsperson who creates a 3 dimensional representation of a design or concept. Most products in use and in development today first take form as a model. This "model" may be an exacting duplicate of the future design or a simple mock-up of the general shape or concept...
. This is often considered the highest form of craftsmanship, as the piece must be made true to the design and also to most exacting standards. A good model maker
Model maker
A model maker is a professional craftsperson who creates a 3 dimensional representation of a design or concept. Most products in use and in development today first take form as a model. This "model" may be an exacting duplicate of the future design or a simple mock-up of the general shape or concept...
is, along with a fine watchmaker
Watchmaker
A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since virtually all watches are now factory made, most modern watchmakers solely repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand...
among the most technically skilled workers in any trade. After the model
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
is made and found to be what is desired, it is molded or perhaps entered into a machining
Machining
Conventional machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, in which a collection of material-working processes utilizing power-driven machine tools, such as saws, lathes, milling machines, and drill presses, are used with a sharp cutting tool to physical remove material to achieve a desired...
process to make copies. Assuming it is molded, afterward multiples of the piece are cast from the mold. See lost-wax casting, which article has a sculptural inclination, though the principles are the same for jewelry casting. The cast pieces will likely need a variety of work done to them, including filing to remove the skin left from casting and prepare for polishing, straightening parts, rounding and sizing rings, and assembling many various parts together using solder
Brazing
Brazing is a metal-joining process whereby a filler metal is heated above and distributed between two or more close-fitting parts by capillary action. The filler metal is brought slightly above its melting temperature while protected by a suitable atmosphere, usually a flux...
. Although the method used is called soldering, it is actually a form of brazing
Brazing
Brazing is a metal-joining process whereby a filler metal is heated above and distributed between two or more close-fitting parts by capillary action. The filler metal is brought slightly above its melting temperature while protected by a suitable atmosphere, usually a flux...
, using "solders" of the metal being worked, i.e. gold solders for gold pieces, silver solder for silver pieces, etc. All of this is the work of bench jewelers, who at this level are sometimes known as production workers in some arenas. In this context the bench jeweler, often known simply as a goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
, is responsible for all of the main work involved in turning a raw casting into a piece of jewelry - filing it, straightening it, assembling parts or adding settings for stones, repairing any problems that might have occurred and preparing it for stonesetting
Stonesetting
Stonesetting is the art of securely setting or attaching gemstones into jewelry. Stonesetting can also be used in referring to setting a stone or orb believed to have magical properties into a staff.-Cabochon and facet:...
and polishing
Polishing
Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action, leaving a surface with a significant specular reflection In some materials polishing is also able to reduce diffuse reflection to...
.
Special-order jewelry
Special-order jewelry is the making of one of a kind items, and is not too different from model making. The main difference between the two is that the special-order piece is made in precious materials, while often a model is not, and the need for exacting precision is nowhere near as high as in model making. Generally the special order jeweler takes a design, either their own or a customer's, and turns it into a piece of finished jewelry from start to finish. This process, like model making, can be fairly simple Wax CarvingWax Carving
Wax carving is the shaping of wax using tools usually associated with machining: rotary tools, saws, files and burins or gravers. Actual knives can be used and most certainly are, but the hardness of the material is such that they are not the ideal tool, generally.To carve wax, the proper size and...
to be cast into metal, or it can involve very complex fabrication skills building the piece out of the actual metal using a wide variety of skills and tools. Very often both model making and special order involve gemstone
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
s, and thus the pieces must be designed and made to properly hold those.
Anatomy of a jewelry shop
It will be obvious that any manufacturer of any product will design a workshop to their own liking, and it may defy convention. There are, however, some typical categories that most shops in the jewelry trade will employ. If it is a manufacturing workshop, likely it will begin with the casting room, then to the bench jewelers or goldsmithGoldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
s, perhaps to the polishing
Polishing
Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or using a chemical action, leaving a surface with a significant specular reflection In some materials polishing is also able to reduce diffuse reflection to...
department and maybe to stonesetting
Stonesetting
Stonesetting is the art of securely setting or attaching gemstones into jewelry. Stonesetting can also be used in referring to setting a stone or orb believed to have magical properties into a staff.-Cabochon and facet:...
. Generally there will be at least one model maker, who may also do special orders, or there may be a dedicated special order department and sometimes even repair, depending on the size of the shop. Usually there is also at least one foreman and also a front office handling management. In addition there might be engravers, enamelists, perhaps a machine shop and others, depending on the product being made. A good shop behaves as a team, with each department doing their part and the work passing back and forth between them as needed. In this situation each worker is a specialist at their job, and though they may have a broader background that becomes useful at times, they generally will not enter into another department's expertise. Each department also recognizes the worker's abililities, so that there may be ten workers called "goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
s", but one will have simple skills, and another may have greatly higher ability, and so the more or less challenging jobs are assigned accordingly.
A bench jeweler
Although the term bench jeweler is a contemporary term with vague meaning, it often is used to describe a jeweler who has a larger set of skills than that of a production worker who merely files and solders rings. Thus they may have a fair knowledge of stonesettingStonesetting
Stonesetting is the art of securely setting or attaching gemstones into jewelry. Stonesetting can also be used in referring to setting a stone or orb believed to have magical properties into a staff.-Cabochon and facet:...
, a bit of engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
, and perhaps other skills that widen their abilities. For a long time throughout history the model was as described above under "Anatomy of a Jewelry Shop", with a fairly strict delineation of responsibilities. In the modern day, there are a great many jewelers who do it all, from design to stonesetting
Stonesetting
Stonesetting is the art of securely setting or attaching gemstones into jewelry. Stonesetting can also be used in referring to setting a stone or orb believed to have magical properties into a staff.-Cabochon and facet:...
to finishing with fair ability. Whether it is used in one context or another, there is no doubt that the bench jeweler is the jewelry worker who does the major metal work and the brazing
Brazing
Brazing is a metal-joining process whereby a filler metal is heated above and distributed between two or more close-fitting parts by capillary action. The filler metal is brought slightly above its melting temperature while protected by a suitable atmosphere, usually a flux...
, and its meaning can also be taken more widely to mean one who is more versatile in the trade than merely an assembler of parts. The term can and has been used to describe any of the work described above - model making, special order, repair, assembly, and more, though it is probably becoming a term to describe an all-around jeweler more and more in recent years.
See also
- Jewelers' Row
- GoldsmithGoldsmithA goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
- SilversmithSilversmithA silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...
- Lost-wax casting