Jewellery Making Courses
COVID-19
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, workshops scheduled for April 2020 have been cancelled. If you are booked in for a workshop in April, we will be contacting you to transfer you into another workshop later in the year.
Feel free to contact Bec via email or call 0457 700 070 if you would like to discuss or have any questions.
We are following advice from the Australian Government in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19). Your safety and wellbeing is our highest priority.
Visit the Department of Health and Human Services Victoria, for more information on symptoms and how to protect yourself against COVID-19.
Jewellery Making Workshops
Learn to make jewellery with goldsmith Bec de Podolinsky.
Jewellery making workshops and courses are held at Pod Studio just outside Kyneton - a one hour drive north of Melbourne along the Calder Freeway.
Previous experience isn't necessary and these fun jewellery classes are suitable for beginners and students with some experience. You'll have the chance to design your own piece of jewellery and in most classes, everyone will be making something different.
Our students come from all over Australia and internationally including the UK, Ireland, Canada, USA, Japan and New Zealand.
You can see what past students have made on the Pod Jewellery Pinterest Board.
Read what our customers have to say about our jewellery courses. Pod Jewellery has a five star rating on Google, Facebook, Trip Advisor and via independent reviews our website. You read these reviews by clicking on a workshop.
10 things we do differently
- Jewellery workshops take one day (or two half days).
- We provide all tools, equipment and materials (including sterling silver).
- Work with sterling silver (not copper) or for an extra fee, gold or platinum.
- Design your own jewellery and make a piece that suits your taste.
- Full-day worskhops include lunch. All workshops include morning / afternoon tea.
- Only pay a $100 deposit when booking. Pay the balance one week before the workshop.
- Pay using afterpay, zipPay, Visa, MasterCard, Amex, PayPal and direct bank deposit.
- Get a 10% discount on selected local accommodation when completing a workshop.
- Our jewellery classes are small with a maximum of six students, so you'll receive lots of help.
- We also give you:
- making instructions, so you can make more pieces when you get home.
- a list of suppliers, so you know where to buy precious metals and have things cast.
- a list of tools used during the workshop. Tool kits are available for purchase from Pod Studio or online here.
We offer the following Jewellery Making Workshops:
- Intensive beginners jewellery making (includes lunch)
- Silver ring (includes lunch)
- Silver earring/pendant
- Lost wax silver ring
- Silver bangle (includes lunch)
- Cuttlefish casting (includes lunch)
- Sand casting (includes lunch)
- Stone setting - bezel set ring making (includes lunch)
- Stone setting in wax (includes lunch)
Private tuition and private group jewellery making classes are also available. Please email your enquiry here.
Scroll down for more details about each workshop and upcoming dates. A minimum of two students are required for a workshop to run.
Pod Studio is located outside Kyneton, so we head into town to eat lunch at one of our amazing local cafés. Gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options are available. Lunch is included in the workshop fee for full day workshops.
Getting here
Workshops are held at the Pod Jewellery Studio in Kyneton - a one-hour drive north of Melbourne along the Calder Freeway.You can also catch a V/Line train from Southern Cross Station to Kyneton. Kyneton is on the Bendigo line. We can collect you from the station and bring you to the studio. Please email Bec one week prior if you need a lift from Kyneton railway station.
Code Red Days
Code Red conditions are the worst conditions for a bush or grassfire. The Country Fire Authority advises Victorians that in response to bushfire threat on a Code Red day, leaving Designated Bushfire Prone Areas the night before or early in the morning is the safest option.
As Pod Studio is located in a bushfire prone area, all workshops scheduled on days declared as Code Red will be postponed and the studio will not be open. These workshops will be rescheduled for a later date. Where possible, workshops will be cancelled the day before or as soon as a Code Red day has been announced. You will be contacted by phone at least one day prior if your workshop is being postponed due to to a Code Red Day.
We offer a range of stone setting workshops, you must have completed some basic jewellery making workshops before enrolling in stone setting.
INTENSIVE BEGINNERS JEWELLERY MAKING COURSE $650 (Two full days - 15 hours, includes lunch both days) - NEW COURSE
9am-5:30pm Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May 2020 (5 spaces available)
9am-5:30pm Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June 2020 (3 spaces available)
9am-5:30pm Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July 2020
9am-5:30pm Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 August 2020
9am-5:30pm Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October 2020
9am-5:30pm Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November 2020
This intensive beginners jewellery making course is held over two-full-days on a weekend. You’ll work at your own pace while learning the fundamentals of jewellery making. There’s no additional costs and no need to pay extra to work in silver, it’s all included. And rather than attending three hour classes week-after-week, you'll learn it all in one weekend.
Everyone will be making different pieces of jewellery, so you'll be able to see how lots of different pieces are made. Classes are held around a big jewellers bench, so you'll have your own space, but will also be able to see what everyone else is working on. It's great fun and a really supportive environment in which to learn.
This course is 15 hours in total and limited to six people. Both days, we eat lunch at one of the many amazing local cafés. This is included in your course fee. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options are available.
SILVER RING WORKSHOP $350 (Full day workshop, includes lunch)
Saturday 16 May 2020 (Fully booked)
Saturday 13 June 2020
Saturday 20 June 2020 (5 spaces available)
Saturday 11 July 2020 (4 spaces available)
Saturday 22 August 2020
Sunday 11 September 2020
Saturday 7 November 2020 (5 spaces available)
Saturday 21 November 2020
Sunday 6 December 2020 (5 spaces available)
Create your own made-to-measure sterling silver ring. You will have lots of flexibility to make a ring band that suits your finger and can finish it with a textured, brushed, polished, oxidised or fine silver finish. This workshop is limited to six students. You can choose to make your ring from 9ct or 18ct yellow, white or rose gold for an additional fee.
LOST WAX SILVER RING WORKSHOP $350 (2 half days in the pm)
1:30-5:30pm Sunday 17 and 24 May 2020 (5 spaces available)
1:30-5:30pm Sunday 14 and 21 June 2020 (4 spaces available)
1:30-5:30pm Sunday 12 and 26 July 2020
1:30-5:30pm Sunday 9 and 23 August 2020
1:30-5:30pm Saturday 10 and 24 October 2020
1:30-5:30pm Sunday 8 and 22 November 2020
1:30-5:30pm Saturday 5 and 12 December 2020
Spend half a day learning to carve a ring from wax. The ring is then taken to Melbourne to be cast in either sterling silver, or for an extra fee gold or platinum. One week later, we will gather again for half a day to finish making your sterling silver ring.
Working with wax is really relaxing, students often describe it as therapeutic. Many people who have completed this workshop have continued making jewellery from wax as a hobby. A number of people have started their own small businesses making and selling their own jewellery.
Once you have the knowledge, lost wax carving is something you can continue from home without needing to purchase a lot of expensive tools after the workshop. You can apply the skills you learn in this workshop to carve brooches, earrings and pendants. You also receive making instructions and all the information you will need to get your pieces cast. You can also purchase Lost Wax tool kit, which has everything you need to start making pieces as soon as you get home.
For some inspiration on the types of pieces you can make using the lost wax process, check out the Pod Jewellery Pinterest board on Lost Wax Making.
The Silver Earring Making Workshop is held in the morning before the Lost Wax Ring Making Workshop, you may want to attend both workshops. Read more about Silver Earring workshop here.
This workshop is a pre-requisite for our setting classes; Facetted Stone Setting in Wax and Cast Set Stones in Wax.
If you're unable to make the second half of the Lost Wax Silver Ring Workshop on the date listed, get in touch to arrange joining the second half of the workshop at a later date.
HALF DAY SILVER EARRING/PENDANT WORKSHOP - $280 (4 hours in the am)
9am-1pm Sunday 17 May 2020 (fully booked)
9am-1pm Sunday 14 June 2020
9am-1pm Sunday 12 July 2020
9am-1pm Sunday 23 August 2020
9am-1pm Saturday 10 October 2020
9am-1pm Sunday 8 November 2020
9am-1pm Saturday 5 December 2020
Spend half a day designing and making a pair of sterling silver drop or stud earrings, or a pendant to take home and wear. Learn to saw shapes, texture surfaces, emboss patterns using leaves, lace, fabric, wire onion bags, mesh, feathers, leather or you can use one of our selection of patterned rolling plates. You'll also learn to make earring hooks, posts or a pendant bail, along with other skills you can use to make your own creations at home.
At the end of this fun class, you’ll take home your pair of handmade one-of-a-kind sterling silver earrings or a pendant.
You can see the kinds patterns you can emboss using a rolling mill on the Pod Jewellery Rolling Mill Embossed Jewellery Pinterest board.
The Lost Wax Silver Ring Workshop is held in the afternoon following the Silver Ring Workshop, you may want to attend both workshops. Read more about Lost Wax Silver Ring Workshop.
STONE SETTING IN WAX $520 (Two days, includes lunch on the first day) - NEW WORKSHOP
9:30am-4:30pm Saturday 8 May and 1:30-5:30pm Sunday 23 May 2020
9:30am-4:30pm Saturday 25 July and 1:30-5:30pm Saturday 1 August 2020
9:30am-4:30pm Saturday 19 and 1:30-5:30pm Saturday 26 September 2020
This intermediate stone setting course is a follow-on from our Lost Wax Silver Ring Workshop.
In this class, you'll learn several different types of setting and then put them into practice to create two rings in wax that will be then cast into silver.
The setting styles covered include:
- setting stones into wax, which will then be cast into place.
- setting a facetted gemstone in a flush (gypsy) style of setting.
- building a setting to fit a gemstone or crystal and then setting the stone after the ring has been cast.
On the first half day you work with wax to carve your ring, create your settings or set your stones in wax. The wax rings are then taken to Melbourne to be cast in silver (a 15 gram silver ring is included in the course cost), or gold or platinum (at an additional cost). We gather again for half a day one week later so you can clean and polish the rings and set your stones.
Many types of stones cannot be cast in the wax, as they can't take the heat of the casting process. So knowing how to set stones after the piece has been cast will give you more variety in terms of the types of gemstones you can use.
Please note: this is an intermediate wax setting class, you must have completed the Lost Wax Silver Ring Workshop or have experience carving wax.
STONE SETTING BEZEL SET RING WORKSHOP $490 (One and a half days, includes lunch on the full day)
Saturday 24 (am) and Sunday 25 October 2020
Learn to create a made-to-measure sterling silver ring band and bezel set a cabochon stone in this stone setting course. We work with sterling silver in the workshop or for an additional fee you can make your ring from gold. You learn to make the entire piece, including the ring band, which will fit your finger perfectly, so you will be able to wear your ring home after the workshop.
Please note: this gemstone setting class is of an intermediate level, you must have completed the Silver Ring Workshop or jewellery classes elsewhere and have some knowledge of soldering.
SAND (DELFT CLAY) CASTING WORKSHOP $390 (Full day workshop, includes lunch)
Sunday 10 May 2020
Sunday 2 August 2020
Sunday 29 November 2020
Learn to cast pieces of jewellery and small sculptures in sand (delft clay). Casting is great fun and has been used to make jewellery for thousands of years.
You can see some pieces that can be cast using this method on my Pod Jewellery Sand Casting Pinterest board.
In this one day workshop, you will learn how to create a clay mould, so you can successfully cast your own piece. We then clean and finish your piece so it's ready to wear. We work with sterling silver in this workshop, which is included in the fee. You can also bring your own gold jewellery to melt down and cast into a new piece of jewellery. Gold jewellery must be yellow or rose gold. Due to the difficulty in casting, we do not cast white gold.
This method can also be used to cast almost any hard object including shells, sticks, acorns, seeds, pottery, existing pieces of jewellery, nuts, keys and other metal objects, teeth, bone, gum nuts and so much more. You can bring along something you would like to cast in silver, or use one of the many objects already available in the studio.
SILVER BANGLE WORKSHOP - (Full day workshop includes lunch) - $420
Saturday 16 May 2020 (Fully booked)
Saturday 13 June 2020
Saturday 20 June 2020 (5 spaces available)
Saturday 11 July 2020 (4 spaces available)
Saturday 22 August 2020
Sunday 11 September 2020
Saturday 7 November 2020 (5 spaces available)
Saturday 21 November 2020
Sunday 6 December 2020 (5 spaces available)
Create your own made-to-measure sterling silver bangle in one-day. This workshop is perfect if have trouble finding a bangle that fits your wrist or can't find a style that you like. Previous experience is not necessary.
Many bangles are made from hollow tube. Bangles in this workshop are made from solid sterling silver. Choose the profile (shape) of the silver including half round, oval, square, round or rectangle and then decide whether to make a round or oval bangle. At the end of this fun class, you’ll take home your beautiful handmade sterling silver bangle.
The Silver Bangle and Silver Ring Workshop are held together, as the technique is similar, so if you are coming along with someone else and one would like to make a ring and the other a bangle, just book in for the Silver Bangle or Silver Ring class on the same date, and you'll be making your pieces together.
SILVER JEWELLERY CUTTLEFISH CASTING WORKSHOP - (Full day workshop includes lunch) - $390
Sunday 31 May 2020
Saturday 8 August 2020
Saturday 28 November 2020 (3 spaces available)
In this full day workshop, you will learn to carve cuttlefish bone and how to set up your cuttlefish bone, so it can successfully cast your design. We work with sterling silver in this workshop, which is included in the fee. You can also bring your own gold jewellery to melt down and cast into a new piece of jewellery.
You can see some of the amazing pieces that can be cast using cuttlefish bone and the lovely pattern that's applied to the piece when it's cast on my Pinterest board.
We're throwing open the doors of Pod Studio and giving you the opportunity to work on your own projects. You will have access to all our tools, equipment and silver solder. Sterling silver sheet, gold and silver wire is available for purchase.
Please note: For safety reasons, you will not be able to melt metal and create ingots in tutored access sessions. This can only be done in private wedding ring making workshops and during private tutoring sessions, as you must be properly supervised throughout this process.
Tutored access is only available to Pod Jewellery students. You must have completed a Pod Jewellery workshop prior to attending a Tutored Access Session.
Tutored access is $40 per hour and bookings are a three hour minimum.
To register your interest email bec@podjewellery.com.au
PRIVATE JEWELLERY LESSONS - from $400 for a three hour minimum
Private jewellery making lessons are a great way to learn techniques such as soldering or how to make specific pieces of jewellery. You can choose to com e along as an individual or a small group. Private lessons include the use of tools and some consumables such as sterling silver solder. All metal including sterling silver is an additional fee based on weight. This is payable on the day. You are also welcome to bring along your own metal for the workshop.
COUPLES WEDDING RING MAKING PRIVATE WORKSHOP
Handcraft your wedding rings in these private couples workshops.
There are three types of private wedding ring workshops for couples:
Forged Wedding Band in a Day Workshop - $950 per couple.
Carved & Cast Wedding Ring Workshop - $950 per couple.
Combination Forged and Cast Wedding Ring Workshop - $950 per couple.
Bring Your Own Gold Wedding Ring Workshop - $1250 per couple.
Workshops are available seven-days-a-week and need to be booked at least four weeks in advance.
Our Jewellery Making Hens Parties can be held at various venues across central Victoria. You and your hens will have a great morning or afternoon making sterling silver jewellery to take away and wear.
To find out more, please email.
JEWELLERY WORKSHOP GIFT CERTIFICATES
Pod Gift Certificates are the perfect present for a friend or loved one. They can be used for a Jewellery Making workshop, to purchase jewellery tools or to buy jewellery from the Pod Jewellery collection. Pod Gift Certificates are beautifully designed and arrive gift-wrapped and ready to give.
Places are limited to six students in all jewellery workshops and jewellery making courses. A $100 deposit is payable on all workshops and courses. If you cancel less than four weeks prior to the start date of the workshop, your $100 deposit will not be refunded.
If you're unable to attend, you can transfer your workshop booking to another person (for the same workshop dates only). If the workshop does not run and is cancelled by us, you will receive a full refund or can choose be transferred to another workshop. Gift certificates are not refundable. We do not offer fee reductions, refunds or make-up classes to students who miss classes.
There are no refunds for students cancelling within seven days (168 hours) of the start of any jewellery making courses or workshops.
