Press Releases

MJSA Press Book Honored for Publishing Excellence

Published

7 years ago

July 2, 2018

INSTORE Staff

(PRESS RELEASE) The MJSA Press book A Jeweler’s Guide to Apprenticeships: How to Create Effective Programs has won a Silver Award in the technical book category of the 2018 Association Media & Publishing EXCEL Awards competition, which recognizes excellence in association publishing. Written by educator and award-winning jewelry artist Nanz Aalund, the book was published in 2017.

Suitable for shop owners, students, and instructors alike, the 208-page volume provides insights into all aspects of setting up a training program in the shop. It presents easily applied methods for teaching apprentices, as well as advice for finding and choosing suitable candidates. The guide also includes reproducible tests for tool identification and safety procedures, step-by-step projects (with color photos) to hone common skills, and accounts from professional jewelers about their own experiences as apprentices and trainers.

Charles Lewton-Brain, an award-winning author and goldsmith who for many years taught in the Jewellery and Metals Program at the Alberta College of Art & Design in Canada, served as technical editor of the book and wrote the introduction.

A Jeweler’s Guide to Apprenticeships is part of the MJSA Education Foundation’s BEaJEWELER initiative, which seeks to bring “new blood” into the jewelry industry. It’s available for $29.50 on MJSA.org. MJSA members will receive a 15 percent discount. To learn more, e-mail MJSA publisher Rich Youmans, rich.youmans@mjsa.org, or call 1-800-444-MJSA, ext. 3025.

Retiring? Let Wilkerson Do the Heavy Lifting

Retirement can be a great part of life. As Nanji Singadia puts it, “I want to retire and enjoy my life. I’m 78 now and I just want to take a break.” That said, Nanji decided that the best way to move ahead was to contact the experts at Wilkerson. He chose them because he knew that closing a store is a heavy lift. To maximize sales and move on to the next, best chapter of his life, he called Wilkerson—but not before asking his industry friends for their opinion. He found that Wilkerson was the company most recommended and says their professionalism, experience and the homework they did before the launch all helped to make his going out of business sale a success. “Wilkerson were working on the sale a month it took place,” he says. “They did a great job.”