Jewellery Wax Carving Intensive

4-week intensive · 5 full days per module · 10am–6pm · 4 students max

The Jewellery Wax Carving Intensive Course is a four-week, project-led programme designed to develop a comprehensive understanding of wax carving for jewellery.

Beginning with the foundations of carving and ring forms, the course progresses through sculptural wax carving, stone setting in wax, advanced setting construction, and the refinement and finishing of cast pieces. Students work through a progressive series of practical projects, building technical confidence while developing greater independence in their approach to design and making.

The course is designed as a complete four-week progression, but can also be booked in one or two-week modules. Beginners can start with the foundations in Week 1, while students with existing wax-carving experience can join at a later stage where appropriate. This flexible structure allows students to build their skills over the full intensive or focus on the areas most relevant to their practice.

Wax Carving

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Jewellery Making

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Intensive Programs

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Short Courses

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Mitsuro Hikime

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Wax Carving * Jewellery Making * Intensive Programs * Short Courses * Mitsuro Hikime *

Week 1‍ ‍

Wax Carving Foundations

wax-carving-intensive-program-foundations-week-one

  • Build confidence working with wax while developing control, proportion, symmetry and accuracy.

    • Learn the types of jewellery wax and their uses

    • Introduction to wax carving tools: files, burs, saws, scrapers, knives and abrasives

    • Measuring and transferring dimensions

    • Ring sizing and shrinkage allowances

    • Marking centre lines and maintaining symmetry

    • Removing material efficiently

    • Piercing and creating negative space

    • Preparing a wax model for casting

Week 2

Sculptural Wax Carving

wax-carving-intensive-program-sculptural-week-two

  • Develop sculptural carving skills and learn to create organic, dimensional forms in wax.

    • Building and removing volume

    • Carving from photographs and physical references

    • Creating depth, relief and undercuts

    • Creating organic textures and surface detail

    • Hollowing larger forms

    • Designing for weight and wearability

    • Considering casting requirements while sculpting

    • Making and modifying specialised carving tools

Week 3

Stone Settings in wax

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  • Learn the fundamentals of designing and constructing stone settings in wax - week is focused on round brilliant and oval stones

    • Measuring stones and planning settings - for round and oval stones

    • Learn cast-in-place principles

    • Carving accurate stone seats

    • Practice setting stones in metal

    • Preparing & refining accommodations for setting

    • Allowances for casting and setting

    • Building bezels and claw settings

    • Refining settings ready for casting

Week 4

Advanced Stone Settings in wax

wax-carving-intensive-program-advanced-dstone-setting-week-two

  • Learn how to create a wider range of stone settings in wax, and how to refine, polish and finish a piece after casting.

    • Designing settings and carving accurate seats for different stone shapes - pear, heart, marquise and rectangular stones

    • Practice setting stones in metal

    • Practice

    • Learn casting refinement & polishing techniques

    • Refining stone seats, walls and setting components

    • Preparing stone-set wax models for casting

If you're interested in any of our courses, please submit a contact form or send us an email! We would love to help you find the best course to suit your learning objectives.

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