In this episode of Pass The Torch: Legacies in Jewelry, we step inside the world of the Grand Masters class—an immersive two-week intensive designed to challenge and inspire jewelers at the highest level. Though I wasn’t in the studio myself, I gathered insights straight from those who were. Teacher Michael Robinson, along with participants James Pettit, Sean Smokovitch, Matt Tuggle, and Sarah Williams, share their personal reflections, biggest takeaways, and the lasting impact this unique experience left on their craft.

Bummer. I am ready to talk about it. What is next?

Alan Revere holds a unique position in the jewelry community, with one foot firmly planted as an award-winning designer and the other as one of the country’s most prominent jewelry educators. With degrees in psychology and art, and the influence of the Woodstock experience, Alan traveled to Pforzheim, Germany where he received formal training as a goldsmith. From 1970 to 1995, Alan Revere designed and created a signature line of award-winning jewelry which sold in stores and galleries nationwide and overseas. As a teacher, Alan founded the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, and from 1979 to 2017 he and his staff trained thousands of students to find successful careers as jewelers, designers and teachers around the globe.Alan’s jewelry appears in books and magazines. His work is included in the Pforzheim Jewelry Museum (Germany), the Gemological Institute of America Museum in Carlsbad and the Oakland Museum of California. Alan is the author of seven instructional books, a hundred articles and a series of DVDs for goldsmiths and jewelers. He is the founder of the Contemporary Jewelry Design Group (cjdg.jewelry) and he is past president of the American Jewelry Design Council (ajdc.org). Alan’s innovative earrings from the 1980s show up frequently on the secondary market. Alan Revere has received three lifetime achievement awards. With his deep understanding of the field and his broad influence on the contemporary jewelry industry, it is no wonder that Alan is revered as, “A master’s master.”Upon closing the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts, Alan retired from teaching. A few months later, Alan was invited to join a small new Facebook Group with 6 members called Let’s Make Professional Jewelry. Alan now leads the group of 24,000 people from over 158 countries, who are replicating the projects from his book, Professional Jewelry Making.