The School of Jewellery Ireland

The School of Jewellery Ireland CREATE | DESIGN | JEWELLERY | CAREER

Part time jewellery Courses in Dublin City, Ire Jewellery School in Dublin, Ireland

25/08/2026

If you’ve ever have to screw in a load of hooks by hand, try this.
In the workshop here there are endless amounts of hooks used for holding everything from mallets to ring measuring sets and doing them gets tough on the hands what I do is make a pilot hole screw in the hook just a little and then wind using a hook in the drill it’s not as scary as it looks if you take it slow! Like supper slow.

30/07/2026

There’s something very satisfying about putting a new handle on a file. It feels like the little ritual before the tool is properly ready to use.

Aside from the extra comfort, control and safety, the handle is also a useful place to identify the file. In the school, I used to colour-code each handle to match the bench it belonged to, then write the file cut number on the end so it could be seen at a glance while sitting in the rack.

A small detail, but in a busy workshop it makes finding the right file and getting it back to the right bench a lot easier.

28/07/2026

Huge thank you to Corkie from for sending me this miniature jeweller’s workbench, created in collaboration with .

I’ve always loved making miniature things. I’ve already made a tiny saw frame, so a miniature chasing hammer felt like the obvious next addition. The hammer head started life as an ordinary nail, with a little wooden handle carved to fit.

Now I’m wondering what the bench needs next. Do I attempt a miniature microscope, or go completely overboard and make a tiny Smith Little Torch?

17/07/2026

One of my little workshop habits…

Every time I change the ultrasonic, my glasses go in first before I add the jewellery cleaning solution.

I genuinely don’t know if an optician would approve 😅, but it gets all the polishing dust and grime off them and they always come out looking much better.

I do make sure to save the paper towel I wipe the tank out with though. It might not look like much, but there’s usually a bit of precious metal residue in there, so it all goes into my sweeps.

Am I the only one who cleans random things in the ultrasonic, or does everyone have a workshop habit that’s become second nature?

16/07/2026

To most people, it’s just a pebble. To me, it’s the start of a new project.

My first professional cab-cutting machine has finally arrived, and I couldn’t be more excited to start exploring the world of lapidary properly.

There’s something really satisfying about taking an ordinary stone and revealing the beauty hidden inside it. I have a feeling this is going to become a bit of an obsession…

This is just the beginning. I’ve got lots of ideas, plenty of stones waiting to be cut, and I’ll be sharing the whole journey—from my successes to the inevitable mistakes.

If you’ve ever been curious about lapidary or cabochon cutting, stick around… there’s a lot more to come. 💎🪨

09/07/2026

One of my goals over the summer is to make the workshop work just a little bit better every day.

With the end of the teaching year, I’ve finally had a chance to tackle all those little improvements that have been on my list for months.

This was one of them.

The top of my polishing motor was constantly becoming a dumping ground for mops, polishing compounds and mandrels. Apart from looking messy, it also increases the chances of cross-contaminating compounds between polishing stages—which usually means more work and a poorer finish.

So I designed a simple organiser to give every mop a home.

It’s not a big upgrade, but it’s one of those small changes that makes the workshop smoother, tidier and more enjoyable to work in.

08/07/2026

These two cufflink findings look almost identical… but after making hundreds of pairs of cufflinks, there’s one I reach for every time.

I much prefer the riveted style because the U-shaped bracket is soldered onto the cufflink first. Once everything has been soldered, pickled and cleaned, the cufflink mechanism is simply riveted into place.

That means:
✅ No heat near the spring mechanism.
✅ No need to pickle the finished mechanism.
✅ A little extra movement at the hinge, which I think gives a nicer feel when worn.

One thing I didn’t mention in the reel is another advantage. With the direct-solder style, the mechanism often goes through the pickle after soldering. Because it’s a hollow component, pickle solution can sometimes remain trapped inside. If it isn’t thoroughly rinsed and neutralised afterwards, it can continue reacting with the steel spring over time.

I also used to try protecting the direct-solder style with a heat-resistant paste (Technoflux) around the mechanism. It certainly helped a little, but in my experience it also slowed the soldering process, and the heat still eventually travelled into the mechanism. That’s one of the reasons I gradually moved away from using this style altogether.

This isn’t to say the direct-solder finding can’t be used successfully—plenty of jewellers do. It’s simply why, after a lot of trial and error, the riveted version has become my preferred choice.

Which style do you use in your workshop? I’d love to hear your experience.

Address

19 Anne Street South
Dublin
D02YY83

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 10am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 10am - 5:30pm
Thursday 10am - 5:30pm
Friday 10am - 5:30pm
Saturday 10am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+35315611207

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The School of Jewellery Ireland posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category