MJSA: At The Bench Live! at AGTA GemFair

MJSA partners with Southestern Findings for one of the most educational concepts at the show...from their website:

MJSA’s At the Bench Live

There’s nothing like learning from the masters—and jewelers who attend MJSA’s At the Bench Live seminars do just that. Featuring the industry’s most renowned experts, At the Bench Live offers a blend of best practices and innovative ideas. It creates an atmosphere in which questions can be posed, solutions offered, and problems solved. And it ensures that attendees can walk way with a bit more technical mastery at their command.

I stopped in yesterday to catch this one:

February 2
Black and Back: Finishing and Detailing Sterling Jewelry
Presenter: Arthur Anton Skuratowicz
With gold at record-high prices, sterling silver is becoming the favored alloy among both professional jewelry designers and consumers-which means more bench jewelers will have to deal with the alloy’s natural tendency to tarnish and oxidize. Learn how to both bring back silver’s shine and strategically use oxidation as a decorative element.




Arthur Skuratowicz is exactly what I love in an educator - he doesn't talk over your head and he encourages you to think for yourself,  all with a laid back and very personable attitude.

Arthur Anton Skuratowicz, GJG (GIA), is Director of Education at the Jewelry Training Centerin Colorado Spring, Colorado, and a Senior Member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers. He and his wife, Julie Nash, are co-authors of Working with Gemstones: A Bench Jeweler’s Guide (MJSA Press).






He addressed a standing room only crowd  and with the large screen and great camera placement, everyone could view the demo like you were looking over his shoulder.



Once again - BRAVO to MJSA & Southeastern Findings for this great series...for details about these demonstrations and other opportunities to catch the series at future events check the MJSA website!

At The Bench Live Schedule:  the week finishes off with the following:
February 3

In the Loop: Textile Techniques in Jewelry Making
Presenter: Michael David Sturlin

By applying textile techniques such as crocheting and weaving to the art of jewelry making, artists can create intricate pieces that are both flexible and lightweight. In this seminar, Michael David Sturlin demonstrates his own crocheting technique, and also offers examples of and insights into other artists’ textile applications.

February 4
Treat or Trick: 
Identifying and Working with Treated Gems at the Bench
Presenter: Arthur Anton Skuratowicz

Most gem-set jewelry that crosses a jeweler’s bench contains treated stones. Sometimes, such as with the recent rash of lead-glass-filled rubies, these treatments aren’t known until the stone fractures or discolors once the job is underway. Learn how to spot common treatments, as well as how to handle a variety of commonly treated stones.

February 5
Filigree Face-off, Part 1: Creating an Edwardian-Style Pendant by Hand
Presenter: Lee Krombholz

In the first session of this two-part seminar, Lee Krombholz hand-fabricates a modern filigree-style disc pendant from sheet stock—dapping the contours, sketching the design, piercing the metal, adding bezels, setting repurposed diamonds, and doing the finishing and millgraining—in an attempt to create the lightest-weight pendant possible (a necessity in an age of sky-high gold prices).

February 6
Filigree Face-off, Part 2: Creating an Edwardian-Style Pendant with CAD
Presenter: Lee Krombholz

In the second session of this two-part seminar, Krombholz creates the same filigree pendant as in the first session, only this time in CAD—experimenting with casting tolerances, re-piercing the design, setting the diamonds, and doing a final finish. The time needed to complete the CAD project, along with any inherent challenges, will then be compared to the hand-fabrication process, and the two pendants will be evaluated to see which process produced the lightest-weight piece. (The presenter thanks caster Tom Primavera, whose predilection for hand-fabrication techniques inspired this "face-off.")