Join a Craft Guild!

Joanne Tinley Author

Guilds offer great support and training - and discounts on suppliers and insurance!

Most of my jewellery tips and tutorials are written to help you with improving your jewellery making techniques, or to discuss jewellery tools - you can never have too many tools!

This blog post, however, is all about networking and saving you money on jewellery tools and much more.

One of the most important pieces of advice I give my students once I've got them nicely addicted to jewellery making is to join a craft association or a guild! Not only do they offer great opportunities for networking, exhibiting and professional training but it makes financial sense too as membership often comes with discounts. For many of my students their membership fee is quickly made back with the discounts they get on their equipment! Some memberships also offer reduced rates for insurance, or even include it in their membership fees. This blog post focuses on UK associations, but I have linked to a couple of USA-based groups at the end of the post.

A popular choice for jewellery makers in the UK is the Association of Contemporary Jewellery, the ACJ. Established in 1997, it aims to promote and support makers and also "delight and inform"
collectors and galleries about contemporary jewellery. The ACJ has one level of membership with a discount for students and recent graduates. Membership gets you discounts at Cookson Gold, HS Walsh, Sutton Tools, Bellore and more including insurers.

One of the features of the ACJ that makes them so popular is their strong network of regional groups. These groups arrange meetings, talks and exhibitions, so if you are looking for a group of jewellers to meet up with and want to get more involved with high quality exhibitions and workshops the ACJ may be the one for you! Find more information here.

The Guild of Jewellery Designers was founded in 2010 and has quickly become just as popular a choice for UK jewellers as the ACJ. The GOJD offers advice and support to all jewellers from "part time enthusiasts to dedicated full time professionals". Networking with the GOJD is more internet based than the ACJ, with a regularly updated website offering tutorials on everything from jewellery techniques to website SEO and other business related matters. There is also a supportive Facebook community.

The GOJD has several levels of membership (including a free one), differing mainly in the resources you can access, how you are listed in their directory and how much it costs you to sell in their marketplace, Odissa. Their standard Gold membership, the first tier of paid membership is a little more than the ACJ membership but it comes with more discounts and resources than the ACJ. The Gold Plus membership also includes Public and Product Liability insurance. To find out more about the GOJD click here. 


The National Association of Jewellers is a group for professional jewellers. Their membership is more expensive than either the ACJ or the GOJD but also provides copyright protection, legal advice and trade show discounts, making them a popular choice for larger businesses who do a lot of wholesale and trade show work. They offer training and specialist business advice. Click here to find out more about the NAJ.

The UK is also home to many more specialist associations and guilds including:

The Society of British Jewellers offer supplier discounts and help with marketing. Find their website here.

Metal Clay Academy who provide comprehensive, independent information and resources for metal clay artists. Find their website here.

The British Society of Enamellers, promoting excellence in British enamelling and professional enamellers working in this country and abroad. Find their website here.

For those of you based in the USA, guilds and associations include:

Jewelers of America, the longest running and largest non-profit jewelry association in the United States. Founded primarily to improve consumer confidence in the jewellery industry, they also offer training in all aspects of the craft and business. Find their website here.

The American Craft Council, a national nonprofit organisation founded in 1943 to connect and support all traditional and contemporary crafts. Find their website here.

Which group is best for you is for you to decide, and I do recommend that you do your research so that you can decide which is most relevant to your craft, and obviously join one relevant to your country. I've deliberately kept this brief and stuck to the facts to try to stay impartial! The networking can be great, although you need to put effort in to get the best out of it, which is true of anything in life really, including the Jeweller's Bench Café Facebook group! However, it's the supplier discounts and the benefit of access to good specialist insurance that get most people renewing their memberships. My discount with Cookson Gold pays for my membership many times over each year!

‘Please note that this page contains affiliate links. While I only recommend products that I believe in, I may benefit financially from any purchases you make.’

Looking for more information about tools? Follow the links in the images below!

What soldering equipment do I need?	Preparing a new bezel pusher	Setting files in wooden handles
Come and see the soldering set up in my studio and the equipment I use with my students!	Bezel pushers will leave marks on your work if you use them straight from the packet. Watch this quick video to learn how to prepare them properly!	Make your files more comfortable to use! A free video tutorial teaching you how to securely set your file in a wooden handle.

Categories: : back to basics, getting started, running a business