Behind the Scenes At The Jewellers Retreat - An Interview With Jessica Rose

We're sure Jessica Rose needs no introduction to most of you! She is an award-winning entrepreneur, author and founder of Jewellers Academy and the London Jewellery School, which was one of the largest jewellery training centres in the world. Her passion is supporting jewellers to learn and develop their skills as well as helping business owners to run their own successful businesses on their own terms.

We’re so excited to hear more about the Jewellers Retreat - a three-episode series made by Jessica and Jewellers Academy. We ask Jess all about it!

So Jess, tell us about the Jewellers Retreat!

Earlier this year, I invited three Jewellers Academy Diploma students for three days of making, learning, creating and relaxation! Each day the students were given a theme and a limited amount of time to produce a piece of jewellery.

Take a look at the trailer as you'll get to see a sneaky peek into what they made...

How did the Jewellers Retreat come about?

I was looking for a way to showcase and support beginner jewellers. The three jewellers featured are all very talented and still in training. I work a lot with very talented jewellers who are filming our online courses and wanted the chance to shine a spotlight on student work and look more at the process of designing and making.

Tell us about the jewellers featured in the show

We invited three Diploma students to be a part of the show.

Meet The Jewellers Below!

Jasmine Butler

Jasmine is an art teacher from Brighton. While teaching she felt like her own creative practice had slipped away a little so she enrolled on a short silversmithing course and loved it.

Jasmine set up a mini jewellery studio in her house and enrolled on the Diploma in Silver Jewellery with Jewellers Academy starting in September 2020 and was still completing the course when she filmed the Jewellers Retreat.

You may recognise Jasmine from doing a guest tutorial on the Kernowcraft website on how to make your very own domed disc earrings! Follow here.

Follow Jasmine on Instagram

Sally Costen

Sally started jewellery making later in life after a health scare in her 30s prompted her to reevaluate her life. She has a successful career as a graphic designer and first started to take jewellery making classes at the London Jewellery School, completing the Diploma there.

As a student with us she won the F Hinds High Street by Design competition with her Seachange range which was sold all over the UK in their shops. Sally has also won numerous Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards aka the jewellery Oscars, over the last few years for her innovative designs informed by her graphic design background.

Sally is now completing the Diploma in Fine Jewellery with Jewellers Academy.

Follow Sally on Instagram

Marketa Garne

Marketa is originally from the Czech Republic and has been living in Newquay, Cornwall for more than a decade. She loves using the ocean as her inspiration. Marketa is Mum to a 3 year old girl who loves helping her find beach treasures to incorporate into her designs.

Marketa started the Diploma in Silver Jewellery with Jewellers Academy in September 2020 and was completing her first year of jewellery training when we filmed the Jewellers Retreat. Marketa is now completing the Diploma in Fine Jewellery with Jewellers Academy.

Follow Marketa on Instagram

How is the Jewellers Retreat different from All That Glitters?

We came up with the concept for the Jewellers Retreat before All That Glitters was aired. I absolutely loved ATG and if you haven't seen it you definitely should. However, the Retreat is a bit different. ATG showcased the amazing work of established jewellers. The Retreat follows three budding jewellers who are just starting out on their jewellery making journey. None of the jewellers work full time on their jewellery - yet! Jasmine and Marketa had both done a few short courses before taking the Diploma in Silver Jewellery with Jewellers Academy. They were both completing the Diploma course when we filmed the Retreat - they hadn’t even finished! Sally Costen completed the Diploma with us at the London Jewellery School a few years ago so was a little more experienced.

There also isn't a competition element in the Retreat. It's about setting a theme and seeing how three different jewellers approach that theme with a limited time. Each day an experienced jeweller-mentor was on hand to help with any questions and techniques so it was all about supporting the jewellers and cheering them on! We also have a making tip and business tip for each episode so it is very much for jewellers but I am sure that anyone would enjoy watching!

What were some of the challenges you faced in making this show?

It’s the first time we made anything of this type before so there’s always a lot to learn! We filmed the show over a weekend in July and it turned out to be the hottest weekend of the year!

That was very challenging as we had three jewellers using jewellers torches and pickle. And of course we also had all the lights, two camera operators and a sound operator all in the same room!

It was a challenge to keep cool and I love that we are sharing this show in December as it’s a little slice of summer to keep us warm!

Sounds great! Where can we watch?

There are three episodes of the show premiering on YouTube.

Each episode follows a different day and a different jewellery making challenge.

All the episodes have now premiered, you can watch them below!

Watch Episode 1

In episode 1, the jewellers were asked to design and make a necklace for someone special to them. Watch below to see what incredible designs they make!

Watch Episode 2

In episode 2 the jewellery Diploma students have just a few hours to make an engagement and wedding ring set - but with a difference! Tune in below to find out what happens.

Watch Episode 3

In the final episode, the jewellers make a piece of jewellery to showcase their signature style. It is always fascinating to see what jewellers are inspired by so we're sure you will love this episode! Watch below.

Shop Featured Gemstones

We loved seeing all of the beautiful gemstone jewellery! Take a look below at the featured gems in the series including sodalite, sapphire, topaz, diamond and jade.

Shop a huge range of high quality gemstones for your jewellery designs with Kernowcraft.

Sodalite

In episode 1, Jas made a beautiful contemporary design using a statement sodalite cabochon stone

Sapphire

In episode 1, Marketa wowed us with a sentimental pendant with a minimal blue sapphire on the back

Topaz

In the engagement and wedding episode, Marketa created an eye-catching Swiss blue topaz engagement ring, which also featured a tiny little salt and pepper diamond

Diamond

Diamonds featured often in the series, it's one of the most sought after gems due to its lustre, durability and rarity - plus diamond comes in a wonderful range of colours to choose from so what's not to love!

Jade

In the final episode, Marketa worked hard to create hummingbird earrings featuring jade gemstones. If you loved the brightness of Marketa's earrings, we'd also recommend that you check out chrysoprase!

Shop By Gemstone With Kernowcraft

You'll find high quality gemstones in a range of cuts, shapes and sizes to complete your designs on the Kernowcraft website as well as all the tools and supplies you may need

Learn More About The Techniques Featured

We loved the mentors and educational aspect of this series, as well as the insight into the many jewellery making techniques such as reticulation, granulation, riveting, sawing, stone setting and oxidisation.

We thought it might be helpful to share with you our tutorial pages below on the featured techniques, as well as links and videos from Kim Thomson's 12 Months Of Metal series

Sawing

We loved seeing Sally's intricate and detailed sawing!

Check out our guide on how to use a jeweller piercing saw as well as helpful video tutorials by tutor Kim Thomson on how to cut internal shapes from the 12 Months Of Metal series.

Reticulation

Reticulation is the process of achieving a textured surface on metal through controlled heat!

Kim shared some really brilliant tutorials on reticulation which you can follow on the 12 Months Of Metal series.

Granulation

Granulation is a popular and ancient jewellery making technique that consists of melting tiny granules of metal that you can then attach to the surface of your designs. It's wonderful if you love adding texture to your pieces.

Read our guide on granulation as well as examples of jewellery designs we love featured this design element or visit Kim's 12 Months Of Metal series featuring granulation and casting.

Riveting

Rivets are a decorative and popular way of joining materials together without the use of heat.

Head over to 12 Months Of Metal series, where Kim shared tutorials on cold connections.

Stone Setting

The Jewellers featured a whole range of brilliant stone setting techniques. Explore our stone setting tutorials where you can learn about various techniques and follow tutorials to make your own designs.

Watch Kim's tutorial on how to create a bezel set cabochon ring below and watch her cabochon setting tutorials here.