Our teaching methods at JAI

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All Jewelry Arts classes are taught through one-on-one instruction geared to each student’s skill level and interests. In regular JAI classes, basic skills such as soldering, stone-setting and fusing are learned through ongoing work on projects incorporating multiple techniques, rather than in courses devoted to a single topic. Since students progress at their own pace, you can be assured that any of our classes  will meet your needs. Sign up now for the class that’s best for you!

Jewelry Arts Institute specializes in one-one instruction, with a team-teaching approach that results in a student-teacher ratio of 4 to 6 to 1. All instructors are highly trained and experienced professional jewelers and teachers. Instructors work with students at each step of production and are thoroughly equipped to discuss and demonstrate techniques and help solve problems encountered by students at all levels.

Our studio at Jewelry Arts is fully equipped to facilitate your learning experience. There is one kiln and one Smith acetelyne torch for every two students. All of our rolling mills, hammers, drawplates, lapidary equipment, draw benches, flexible shafts, anvils, and grinding and polishing equipment are free for student use. Lockers are available for a rental fee. We also provide free wireless internet access, flat-screen tv with cable, laptop for student use and complimentary coffee. To-the-trade stone dealers Denise, Reema, and Denny are available during every class.

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History of Jewelry Arts                                See our FAQ's

A visit to any of the world’s great museums will reveal the extraordinary opulence, craftsmanship and beauty of what is called “classical jewelry.”  Ancient cultures, particularly those of Egypt, Greece and Rome, had discovered ways of working with high-karat gold and fine silver, such as fusing and granulation, which later became the hallmarks of ancient jewelry-making.  As the demand for jewelry grew over time and machines were built to mass-produce it; however, many of the ancient techniques were lost – seemingly forever.

In the mid-20th Century, the man who would become JAI’s founder, Robert Kulicke, set about restoring many of the lost arts of classical jewelry design. Kulicke rediscovered the ancient technique - now familiar to many - of granulating high-karat gold.  He also reconstructed and revitalized almost forgotten methods of Byzantine enameling.  To share his extensive knowledge of classical techniques with students, he and his partner Jean Stark founded the first jewelry school in America to teach these skill, Kulicke-Stark Academy, later to become the Jewelry Arts Institute.

Over the years, thousands of students attended the jewelry school and students’ works began finding their way into shops, galleries and high-end stores such as Barney’s New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman-Marcus and many others.

In 1987, Kulicke went back to painting full time.  Bessie Jamieson, an apprentice of Robert Kulicke's, took over the school and renamed it Jewelry Arts Institute.  Jamieson, a master goldsmith and accomplished jeweler, led the school for the next 22 years.  Today, the school is in the hands of Maria Monet Markowitz, a former JAI student who is committed to keeping the traditions of classical jewelry-making alive and thriving in the modern world through ongoing improvements to the studio and an ever-evolving workshop curriculum.