3. The Sir John Cass School of Art and Traditional Diamond Mounting.

The Sir John Cass pre-apprenticeship course was designed specifically for the jewelry and assosiated trades in mind and included, diamond mounting, setting, silversmithing and engraving.

The pre app diamond mounting course was for understanding the practical basics of making hand made jewelry in particular. Thinking back this really was a very good course that sadly doesn’t exist any more, and nor does the Sir John Cass school of art.

We used nickel silver extensively at the Cass for all or our diamond mounting practice pieces. Nickel silver works in a similar way to gold apart from the melting point differs. I am not entirely certain that the use of nickel silver would be allowed now due to health and safety reasons. Nickel silver is sometimes called German silver. On occasions we used guiding metal, which is a form of brass, and occasionally silver depending on the application.

Moving on from the cotton wool cushioning of the Sir John Cass and into the real world of work. Jewelers and associated trades within the London area would telephone the Cass to ask if they had any suitable pre-apprentices that could come for a job interview.

This was quite a good system from school, into apprenticeship and work. Real apprenticeships are now a thing of the past. Or, what I know or recognize as an apprenticeship are long dead and gone which is a real shame and not just for jewelry but all trades. Many of the businesses were, or still are, located in and around the Hatton Garden area of central London and around the West End of London.

A diamond mounter makes the metal part for the stones to sit in. The mount. Mounts are usually rings, pendants, ear rings, brooches or any item that stones will be set into. This is specialist work. He, or she, makes the mount usually to the stones provided, to ensure that the mount is a correct fit for the stones. Stones being diamonds or other precious gems.

The setter is then given the stones and the mount to set the stones into. The stones are secured into the mount in a variety of ways without using any form of glue. Setting is very specialist work usually done under a microscope these days and we will look into this in another journal entry.

On occasions the mounter may never see the completed item that he, or she, has created set and finished, which is a shame for the mounter. He, or she, will only have an image in mind from the stones supplied and the mount created.

Back to Journal