Wax Carving vs Metalwork: Where Should You Start?

Why I Created This Guide

After more than 20 years working every day in the jewellery industry, between my benches in London and Greece, and 12 years teaching in central London schools, I have spoken to and worked with many people who want to learn jewellery making but don't know where to start.

Today, we have access to more jewellery-making information than ever before. Social media, online tutorials, trends and algorithms can show us endless techniques and beautiful pieces within seconds. But seeing something being made is not the same as understanding the craft behind it.

The algorithm can show you what is popular. It cannot teach the craft.

This is why I decided to create this three-part guide. Through my experience at the bench and in teaching, I want to help you understand the different approaches to jewellery making, what each one can teach you, and how to choose where to begin.

Because everything changes when you start to explore and experiment with the craft for yourself.

You begin to understand the material, the tools, the limitations and the possibilities. You also begin to develop something that cannot be gained simply by watching someone else work: your own practical knowledge and judgement.

The craft should come first. The trends come afterwards.

Wax Carving or Metalwork: What's the Difference?

If you are beginning to learn jewellery making, you will quickly come across two different approaches: wax carving and metalwork.

• Wax carving allows you to develop a design directly in three dimensions. You can remove material, build forms and experiment with shape before the piece is eventually transformed into metal through the lost-wax casting process.

• Metalwork takes a different approach. Instead of developing the piece in wax first, you work directly with metal, using techniques such as sawing, filing, drilling, forming, soldering and finishing.

These are fundamental skills in silver jewellery making, silversmithing and goldsmithing.

The difference is not only the material. You are thinking and working differently.

Wax can give you a direct and relatively forgiving way to explore volume and form. Metalwork demands greater precision from the beginning and teaches you how to construct, join and refine a piece directly in metal.

Both approaches require patience, practice and discipline. Both can lead to highly sophisticated jewellery.

The question is not which one is better.

The question is where it makes sense for you to begin.

Why I Recommend Starting with Wax Carving

For someone completely new to jewellery making, I often recommend starting with wax carving.

One reason is simple: it is approachable.

You can begin with relatively few tools and work in a small space without immediately needing a fully equipped jewellery bench or extensive machinery.

Wax is also more forgiving while you are learning the craft. You can experiment with a form, remove too much, change your direction and continue developing the piece. When working directly in precious metal, the consequences of a mistake can be very different.

But for me, the most important advantage is not simply that wax is easier to approach.

It is what you learn while working with it.

You begin to develop control of your hands and tools. You learn to observe proportion, symmetry, volume and detail. You learn to slow down, make decisions and refine them.

These are good habits to develop before taking on the greater technical demands of direct metalwork.

From Wax to Metalwork

Starting with wax does not mean that you are choosing wax instead of metalwork.

I see it as one possible way of building a foundation, but there is no single correct place to begin. If you want to start directly with metalwork, that is not wrong at all. In fact, learning to work with metal from the beginning can be the right choice if you are drawn to techniques such as sawing, filing, drilling, forming and soldering, or if you want to understand how jewellery is constructed directly in metal.

Once you have developed some hand control, observation and discipline through wax, approaching metalwork can feel less unfamiliar. You still have a great deal to learn, but you are not starting from zero.

At the same time, someone who begins with metalwork is developing a valuable foundation from the very beginning. You learn how metal behaves, how tools interact with it and how accuracy affects every stage of making.

Metalwork also introduces a different kind of responsibility.

When you work directly in metal, accuracy matters from the beginning. Depending on the material, mistakes can also become expensive, particularly when working with precious metals.

This is why metalwork requires considerable physical practice. Your hands need to become accurate through repetition, not simply through watching a demonstration.

There is no single correct route into jewellery making. Wax carving may be a useful starting point for one person, while metalwork may be the better starting point for another.

A good foundation doesn't remove the work.

It helps you approach the work with better habits.

Why Learning Both Matters

I don't see wax carving and metalwork as two competing directions.

They are different skills that can work together.

Some designs are better developed through wax. Others are better constructed directly in metal. More complicated pieces can require both approaches.

The more techniques you understand, the more choices you have.

Eventually, the question changes from:

“Which technique do I know?”

to:

“What is the best way to make this?”

That is an important stage in developing as a jeweller.

Knowing both wax carving and metalwork gives you a broader understanding of form, construction and problem-solving. It gives you more freedom to experiment and more possibilities when a design becomes technically demanding.

And once you have developed that knowledge and skill, it becomes part of you.

Nobody can take that knowledge away from you.

Short Courses, Series of Short Courses or Intensive Training?

There is a place for short jewellery courses.

If you want to try jewellery making, experience a new technique or make your first piece, a short course can be an excellent introduction. It gives you the opportunity to discover whether you enjoy working with the tools and materials before committing to a longer programme.

For people who work during the day, evening jewellery courses can be a practical way to learn alongside your existing work and commitments.

A series of short courses can take this further. By returning to the bench regularly and building your skills step by step, you can develop more confidence and gradually explore different techniques. For many people, this can be a very good way to learn while continuing with their professional or personal commitments.

Intensive training offers a different kind of educational experience. By dedicating approximately 40 hours a week to your training, you have much more continuity in your practice. You can spend longer periods at the bench, receive regular guidance, repeat techniques and immerse yourself much more deeply in the craft.

This can be particularly suitable if you are serious about developing your skills or are considering jewellery making as a professional career.

Whichever route you choose, learning requires time.

You need repetition.

You need to make mistakes and understand why they happened.

You need correction and guidance so that you can recognise what went wrong and learn how to approach the problem differently.

And then you need to practise again.

A demonstration can show you what to do.

Good training should also help you understand how to work and, importantly, why each stage matters.

That means developing good habits, learning to use tools correctly, understanding materials and gradually building the accuracy and confidence that come through practice.

The difference is not simply the number of hours in a course, or whether the course is short or intensive.

It is what you are trying to achieve through those hours, how consistently you are able to practise, and whether you are developing an understanding that you can carry into your next piece.

The Craft Comes First

Jewellery is a creative discipline, but creativity alone is not enough.

Craft requires patience, discipline and hard work.

You have to practise. You have to make mistakes. You have to correct them. Sometimes you have to make the same thing again — and again.

That is how your hands learn.

Creativity may give you the idea, but technical knowledge and practical skill provide the foundation that allows the idea to become a well-made, high end and lasting piece.

Trends, technology and social media will continue to change. The fundamental need to understand your materials, tools and techniques does not disappear.

I am not against trends or new technology. They can be valuable sources of inspiration and can open new possibilities.

But they should not replace the understanding of the craft.

Explore the craft. Experiment with it. Learn what it can do before deciding what you want it to become.

So, Where Should You Start?

If you are completely new to jewellery making, my recommendation is to consider wax carving as a starting point, particularly if you are interested in developing three-dimensional forms and learning through experimentation.

From there, if you are serious about developing as a jeweller, I encourage you to develop your metalwork and silver jewellery-making skills as well.

You don't have to choose one technique forever.

The stronger foundation is understanding how different techniques work together.

Wax carving can teach you to understand form.

Metalwork can teach you to understand construction.

Knowing both gives you more freedom to create.

The important thing is not simply which technique you choose first, but what you do with the knowledge you gain from it.

Learn it properly. Practise it. Experiment with it. Understand its possibilities and its limitations.

That is how you begin to develop your own way of working.

The Jewellery Making Triptych

This is Part I of my three-part guide to understanding the jewellery-making craft.

Part II — Wax Carving & Lost-Wax Casting

In the next part, we will look more closely at jewellery wax: the different types of wax, the tools used to work with it, carving and building techniques, developing three-dimensional forms, and the journey from a wax model through lost-wax casting to a finished metal piece.

Part III — Silver Jewellery Making & Goldsmithing

In the third part, we will move to the jewellery bench and explore working directly in metal: the materials, tools and fundamental techniques of silver jewellery making, and how these skills develop towards more advanced goldsmithing.

Part I — Understand the paths.
Part II — Explore wax.
Part III — Develop metalwork.

The craft comes first.

Thank You for Reading

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I hope this guide has helped you see the bigger picture and understand a little more about the different ways of approaching jewellery making.

If you have any questions, thoughts or experiences you would like to share, feel free to leave them in the comments section below. I would be very happy to hear from you and continue the conversation.

See you in Part II.