Gemstone Identification

Saturday, March 7, 10-4p Becoming a jewelry professional is more than developing technical expertise with the tools of your trade. In this course students will discuss the best way to work with clients, source materials, evaluate gemstones and dealers and be confident in what your are buying as you develop your brand. Learn to evaluate quality and cost of materials, compare gemstones to one another discuss common pitfalls when working with gemstones. Whether you are creating a line of jewelry, doing custom work, or creating hand crafted pieces for a limited line of jewelry this course is invaluable. Students will discuss important education opportunities and jewelry organizations as well as trade and gem shows to assist you as you develop your brand and source your materials. "It is about what you stand for as a person in ethics, honesty, and fairness and how you express those qualities in the way you do business with others.The jewelry industry is one of the few fields left where a handshake is all that is needed to start doing business. As in so much in life, your reputation and your good name is what you will be judged by and doors will either open or be closed to you based on that assessment." -Quote from Pam Welborn- Tuition: $145