London · Maximum 4 Students
Wax Carving Short Courses
Learn wax carving for jewellery through focused practical courses, from fundamental carving and three-dimensional form to sculptural techniques and stone setting in wax.
Whether you are starting wax carving for the first time or already work with jewellery and want to develop a particular technique, the courses allow you to enter at the appropriate point and continue developing your skills.
TRADITION
SKILL
CREATIVITY
A PROFESSIONAL APPROACH
Wax Carving Training at Jewellery Academia
The Wax Carving Short Courses are taught in our London jewellery studio with a maximum of four students per class, giving each student direct access to individual guidance and correction at the bench.
Training is centred around practical work and the fundamentals behind each technique — not simply completing a project, but understanding how and why the process works and developing the control needed to apply it to your own jewellery.
The courses form a connected area of training, from the foundations of wax carving through three-dimensional and sculptural work to increasingly technical stone setting in wax. You can begin with no previous wax-carving experience, or enter at the appropriate point when you already have the skills required.
Alongside the techniques themselves, you are introduced to the practical knowledge surrounding the work — tools, different waxes and their properties, gemstones, casting and the decisions involved in taking a piece from wax towards finished jewellery.
WAX CARVING COURSES
Find Your Starting Point
The Wax Carving Short Courses are presented in the order that the skills develop, with each stage introducing techniques and understanding that support more advanced work.
If you are new to wax carving, start with the foundations. If you already have relevant practical experience, you may be able to enter at a later stage, depending on the skills required for that course.
Introduction to Wax Carving
Learn the foundations of wax carving for jewellery. Suitable for students new to wax carving as well as those with some previous experience who want to establish strong foundations before progressing to more technical work.
-
No previous wax-carving experience required.
Sculptural Wax Carving
Develop your wax carving through three-dimensional and sculptural forms, working with shape, volume and surface while exploring different waxes as a medium.
-
No previous wax-carving experience required, although some familiarity with wax carving is beneficial.
Brilliant-Cut Stone Setting in Wax
Develop your wax-carving skills by creating precise accommodations for brilliant-cut gemstones directly in wax, understanding how the setting translates through casting, before learning to secure the stones correctly in metal.
-
Foundation wax-carving skills or equivalent previous experience required.
Multi-Shape Stone Setting in Wax
Take stone setting in wax further by working with different gemstone shapes, including oval, marquise and pear cuts, adapting the setting to their individual geometry and applying these techniques to your own designs.
-
Previous stone-setting-in-wax experience with brilliant-cut gemstones, or equivalent skills, required.
Take Your Training Further
The four individual Short Courses provide focused training in specific areas of wax carving. You can follow the courses as a complete series, or book additional supervised studio time if your piece requires more time to complete or you would like to continue practising and developing the techniques covered during your course.
Wax Carving Short Course Series
Follow the Wax Carving Short Courses as a connected series, allowing each stage of training to build on the skills developed in the previous course. Progress from the foundations of wax carving into sculptural work and increasingly technical stone setting in wax, working with brilliant-cut gemstones before progressing to different gemstone shapes.
Add-On Studio Time
Additional supervised studio time to complete more complex work or continue developing the techniques covered during your course.
Continue Developing Your Wax Carving
For students who want substantially more supervised bench time, the Wax Carving Intensive Programme provides 40–160+ hours of progressive training, with more time for repetition, correction, project development and increasingly demanding technical work.
Rather than focusing on individual techniques within shorter periods of training, the Intensive provides the time and continuity to develop a broader, more professional approach to wax carving — connecting techniques, working through a wider range of technical situations and developing the judgement and independence needed to make decisions at the bench.