Melting metal and making magic: How I soldered my own silverwork at Bridlington’s award-winning Jewellers Academy

When I first arrived at the Jewellers Academy on Prospect Street, my craft enthusiast friend and I were buzzing with excited energy.

The door, which seemed magically hidden in plain sight, was opened by the welcoming and very Irish Derek Boyd, owner and founder of the establishment.

I slowly made my way up the stairs and stepped into secret world of the jewellery industry.

Peering out of a window to the street below, I couldn’t believe a workshop full of hi-tech equipment and passionate experts was situated above a jewellery shop I have spent years walking past.

Derek let us hang up our coats and don our much-needed aprons; I managed to put mine on inside out which I fear was an omen for my skills as a silversmith!

A small group of us made our way into the workshop and Derek explained all the tasks we would be attempting in the class.

With great patience and passion, he walked us through how to saw metal with precision, how to sand and refine our work, how to solder and then eventually make a silver ring from scratch.

My friend and I shared a trepidatious glance at each other over our work stations - neither of us had realised we would be melting silver with an open flame that evening!

Derek was a fantastic teacher, light-heartedly helping while I managed to break many saw blades, almost hacked my thumb off and singed the tips of my fingers.

He instilled in the class how important it is to get hands on when you are learning a new craft, especially one as intricate and precise as silversmithing.

Although I am more of a books and theory person, being able to jump straight in meant I understood Derek’s teachings so much faster.

I felt the nerves melt away as I soon learnt getting things wrong and making mistakes were all part of the process.

The most thrilling part of the class was 100% the soldering, which made me feel like a naughty school kid left alone with a bunsen burner.

I couldn’t wait to have a go!

Soldering silver is a very technical art which requires all of your attention.

Using too hot a flame could melt the silver jewellery you had spent hours crafting, whereas not melting solder evenly leaves gaps in your joins and you need to start the process all over again - the stakes were high!

I found the experience mesmerising, watching the glittering hot solder meld my ring together was like watching alchemy before my eyes.

The ring itself started to glow a beautiful red, at which point I removed the flame, picked it up with heavy-duty tweezers and plunged it dramatically into a chemical bath.

With steam rising and the ring making a satisfying sizzling sound, I knew I had got it to just the right temperature.

This helped to clean the ring while also letting me live out the fantasy of making the ‘One Ring’ from ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ for five minutes!

After hours of sore fingers, laughter and hard graft, my friend and I left the workshop with matching sparkling silver infinity rings, as well as some keyrings we cobbled together from our initial practice projects.

Although I managed to shout an expletive every five minutes and was far from a natural, Derek retained his good humour and rescued my pieces from being frustratedly thrown out of a window many times.

I am in awe of Derek’s passion for his craft and while he is teaching his expertise and knowledge shines.

I had a fantastic time and the workshop has inspired me to try and introduce more ‘hands-on’ activities to my life, although possibly ones with less sharp edges and open flames.

The Jewellers Academy hosts a number of workshops for silversmiths across the country and has won an incredible amount of awards.

After visiting the establishment, I understand why it is so popular.

Due to high demand, Derek is starting an online course in the near future, to allow people from further afield to join in and learn the trade.

I am proud that such a prestigious and exciting place of learning and craftsmanship can be found right on my doorstep.

Putting Bridlington on the map in the jewellery industry is an incredible feat and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Derek and his team.

All in all I am so proud of my jewellery and am thrilled I had the opportunity to learn from such an experienced teacher, although I don’t think I should quit my day job any time soon!

Visit https://thejewellersacademy.com/ for more information.