Think About the Future

One other thing to think about is what you want to do eventually. A bench jeweler is one way to get into making and designing fine jewelry. Normally, you'd go to a trade school and possibly apprentice under someone. Bench jewelers are almost always in demand and make some fairly decent money, but it is a "trade," meaning that it may not be as creative as you'd like it to be. Sometimes you might get to design jewelry, but more often you will be repairing jewelry, which is where most jewelry shops make a large amount of their “bread and butter” income. If you have a business mind and think you might like to own a jewelry shop one day, then this might be the way to go.

The other direction you can take, which is more of an artists' direction, is to go to design school and earn a design degree. There are tons of them throughout the world, many teaching metal related design classes. I have a few listed under the Jewelry Designing section, but also check Google for more. Just type in "design schools" and see what you come up with.