- "Jewellery design is the art or profession of designing and creating jewellery."
This includes the study of making jewelry from metals, gemstones, and other materials.
Tools and equipment: Understanding the basic tools and equipment needed for jewelry making, such as pliers, cutters, and torches.
Materials: Understanding the different types of materials used in jewelry making, including metals, gemstones, beads, and other embellishments.
Techniques: Understanding the different techniques used in jewelry making, such as wire wrapping, soldering, and stringing.
Design: Developing an eye for design and aesthetics, exploring different styles and trends, and developing a unique personal style.
Safety: Learning the safety precautions necessary to work with various materials and tools.
Finishing: Understanding the different techniques used to finish and polish jewelry, such as tumbling, sanding, and buffing.
Casting and molding: Exploring more advanced techniques such as casting and molding, which allow for more intricate and complex designs.
Business and marketing: Learning the basics of starting a jewelry making business, including marketing and sales strategies, pricing, and customer relations.
Repair and maintenance: Understanding the basics of jewelry repair and maintenance, such as resizing and cleaning.
History and culture: Exploring the history and cultural significance of jewelry, including traditional techniques and styles from different cultures and time periods.
Beading: The practice of creating jewelry using different sizes, shapes, and colors of beads.
Wire Wrapping: The art of creating jewelry designs using wire as the primary medium.
Metalwork: Jewelry designs that typically involve soldering, casting, or forging metal.
Enameling: The use of heat to fuse powdered glass onto metal to create vivid colors and designs.
Polymer Clay: Jewelry designs that are created through molding and baking polymer clay.
Resin: The use of resin to create jewelry, typically involving encasing objects in clear or tinted resin.
Lapidary: The creation of jewelry by cutting and polishing raw gemstones.
Chainmaille: The craft of weaving together metal rings to create intricate patterns and designs.
Leatherworking: Jewelry designs using leather and leatherworking techniques.
Bezel Setting: The practice of setting a stone or object into a metal or other material by encasing it with a rim or collar.
Kumihimo: A Japanese braiding technique, typically used to create intricate cords for necklaces and bracelets.
Mosaics: The use of small pieces of glass or other materials to create intricate designs and patterns.
Pearl Knotting: The creation of necklaces and bracelets by stringing pearls and knotting between each one.
Macrame: The creation of jewelry designs using knots and weaving techniques.
Carving: The practice of using materials such as wood or bone to carve intricate designs for jewelry.
Filigree: The use of thin metal wires to create intricate designs and patterns.
Glassblowing: The creation of glass beads or pendants through the use of a glassblowing torch.
Lampworking: The practice of using a torch to melt and shape glass into decorative designs.
Embroidery: The creation of jewelry designs using thread embroidery techniques.
Felting: The use of wool fibers to create textured and colorful jewelry designs.
- "It is one of civilization's earliest forms of decoration, dating back at least 7,000 years to the oldest-known human societies in Indus Valley Civilization, Mesopotamia and Egypt."
- "The art has taken many forms throughout the centuries, from the simple beadwork of ancient times to the sophisticated metalworking and gem-cutting known in the modern day."
- "Design concepts are rendered followed by detailed technical drawings generated by a jewellery designer, a professional who is trained in the architectural and functional knowledge of materials, fabrication techniques, composition, wearability and market trends."
- "Traditional hand-drawing and drafting methods are still utilized in designing jewellery, particularly at the conceptual stage. However, a shift is taking place to computer-aided design programs."
- "Whereas the traditionally hand-illustrated jewel is typically translated into wax or metal directly by a skilled craftsman, a CAD model is generally used as the basis for a CNC cut or 3D printed 'wax' pattern to be used in the rubber molding or lost wax casting processes."
- "For example, 24K gold was used in ancient jewellery design because it was more accessible than silver as source material."
- "The earliest documented gemstone cut was done by Theophilus Presbyter (c. 1070–1125), who practiced and developed many applied arts and was a known goldsmith."
- "Early jewellery design commissions were often constituted by nobility or the church to honor an event or as wearable ornamentation."
- "Within the structure of early methods, enameling and repoussé became standard methods for creating ornamental wares to demonstrate wealth, position, or power."
- "These early techniques created a specific complex design element that later would forge the Baroque movement in jewellery design."
- "Traditionally, jewels were seen as sacred and precious; however, beginning in the 1900s, jewellery has started to be objectified."
- "Throughout the 20th century jewellery design underwent drastic and continual style changes: Art Nouveau (1900–1918), Art Deco (1919–1929), International Style & organicism (1929–1946), New Look & Pop (1947–1967), Globalization, Materialism, and Minimalism."
- "Jewellery design trends are highly affected by the economic and social states of the time."
- "The boundaries of styles and trends tend to blur together and the clear stylistic divisions of the past are harder to see during the 20th century."