As I was growing up I would spend most night sitting with my mom polshing stones.
Then I would be at school it came to my last year I had to do Oral Exam and I was asked by my teacher,
What my subject would be i said jewellery the teacher gave me a tired look of here we go how to put on and take off jewellery .
Boy was she in for a huge shock as I started off talking how stones form in the ground over millions of years to being mined brought to the surface and cut and sent to a factory to be made into a finshed product.
She started off playing with a pencil soon put it down after five minutes and really listerned but most of all she learnt alot about jewellery.
I only should had 15 minutes to talk I did a 30 minute lecture and the teacher was that impressed she gave me 100 out of 100 for that exam .
My parents were really proud of me and because of that talk I did launched me into what you call today an appenticeship back then was called youth training scheme which I did year in professional jewelley with a frim called Davran in hockley historic jewellery quarter. Birmingham.
If you ever get to vist the Jewellery Quarter this is place you should really vist to learn the histroy of hockley.
https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/jewellery