Learn To Be A Bench Jeweler - Get a Job Anywhere in The Country July 10, 2018 13:27
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The jewelry industry needs YOUNG people to get involved. Pictured above is a short article Cliff recently wrote for InStore magazine - our favorite trade magazine.
There is a shortage of trained bench jewelers in Michigan and all over the country. If a person were to invest in the training from one of two different schools, then would be able to get a job pretty much anywhere in the country you might care to live.
Seriously.
The average age of a bench jeweler, (someone who can repair and make fine jewelry using torches and other tools), is somewhere in the mid-50's. The average age SHOULD be mid-30's. In other words, our industry needs an influx of young people to invest their time and talents to learn how to do the work.
Being a bench jeweler is a skilled trade. Cliff used to work at a place in Lansing with 8 jewelers. They made between $15 and $22 an hour plus benefits - and that was almost 20 years ago!
There are two great schools to learn the trade. One is in Texas and offers a two year program. There is one in Tennessee with a 12 week, intensive course of hands on study that costs about $14,000. Students from either school are able to find jobs quickly. (The one in Texas also teaches watch repair - for which there is demand all over the country as well.)
If this gets your interest - call Cliff for more details: 616-897-9480.