International State of Practice 2026
International State of Practice is a webinar series created by the Community for Ethical Jewelry, addressing the urgency of sustainability in Jewelry and Metalsmithing.
Tuesday October 27th
6:00 pm (EST)
Via Zoom
Free to attend, register for link
NO ONE AT THE BENCH
Behind the Bench: What Jewelers Actually Do
Special Guests
Casey Sobel, Artist and Master Jeweler
Grace Barden, Artist and Bench Jeweler
NO ONE AT THE BENCH
Behind the Bench: What Jewelers Actually Do
Skilled bench jewelers are in demand across the jewelry industry. For students and educators, this moment represents more than a workforce challenge. It represents opportunity. Community for Ethical Jewelry is convening a focused conversation to help our members step confidently into that opportunity.
This webinar is designed for CEJ students, educators, and emerging professionals seeking clarity, insight, and practical tools for navigating the next step in their careers.
Demystifying the Bench Jeweler Experience
What does a bench jeweler actually do all day? Join us for an honest, candid panel discussion pulling back the curtain on the jewelry trade. Whether you are an art student curious about commercial fabrication, an independent maker looking to build production-level skills, or an early-career metalsmith planning your next step, this session breaks down what life at the bench really looks like across different business scales.
Featuring practical advice from both an early-career bench jeweler and an experienced Master Jeweler, this conversation will equip you with the language, portfolio expectations, and career insights needed to navigate the contemporary trade.
We anticipate this to be a lively discussion and look forward to active participation by students, educators, jewelers, business owners, and industry professionals interested in this topic.
Webinar Topics
Day-to-Day Realities: The difference between working for an independent studio artist versus a high-volume production house, specialist roles (setters, polishers) versus all-around generalists, and what surprise tasks catch new hires off guard.
Training Pathways & Costs: The truth about formal education (BFAs), specialized trade initiatives (like MJSA programs), traditional on-the-job apprenticeships, and the crucial skills that can only be learned in a production environment.
Balancing Your Own Art: How working makers manage their personal studio practices alongside demanding production roles without creative burnout or conflicts of interest.
The Industry’s Next Chapter: Why seasoned makers believe the field is entering a pivotal renaissance—and where new jewelers have leverage to influence ethical sourcing, material stewardship, and workplace standards.
Special Guests
Casey Sobel
Casey Sobel is a master jeweler, mixed media artist, and multidisciplinary maker whose expertise spans education, costume design, leatherwork, make up artistry, and more. Named by the New York Times as "One of Six New York City Jewelers To Know," and one of the youngest artists ever to have work acquired by the Museum of Arts and Design for their permanent jewelry collection, Sobel's practice draws inspiration from texture, materials, process, and experimental design - bringing a rare depth of craft knowledge and creative range to every stage, studio, and classroom they enter.
Originally from rural New Jersey, Sobel was raised in a family of welders, carpenters, seamstresses and other craftspeople, instilling a deep appreciation for the handmade object. After graduating from Pratt Institute, Sobel worked with brands such as Catbird and Alex Sepkus, and served as a master jeweler, engraver, technical writer, and educator for Cartier. In addition to being invited back to their Alma Mater to teach jewelry design and fabrication classes and lecture on navigating the ins and outs of the jewelry industry, Sobel has traveled extensively, working in various jewelry workshops. She helped establish new studios, trained master jewelers to refine their skills, taught managers how to instruct on new techniques, and created and implemented complex technical training documents for highly specialized pieces.
In addition to the New York Times, Sobel's work has been featured in publications including Architectural Digest, The Gothamist, Women's Wear Daily, and Swarovski's Gem Visions trend book. Sobel has exhibited in museums and galleries nationwide, including the Smithsonian's National Building Museum, in the permanent collections of the Museum of Arts and Design and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Museum, and in the personal collections of renowned art jewelry collectors worldwide. One of the youngest artists ever, and the only Pratt alumnus to have work acquired by MAD, Sobel is committed to a sustainable practice rooted in high ethics, using responsibly sourced materials and stones throughout her work.
Excited at the prospect of expanding her work and focusing on a larger scale, Sobel invites people into her Brooklyn studio for classes, private lessons, career coaching and business consulting, while also serving the community through work as a public speaker, panelist and critic, speaking on the future of the jewelry industry. As a leading voice in the jewelry industry, she strives to aid in the betterment of all craftspeople in this industry she is so madly in love with.
Grace Barden
Grace Barden is an artist and metalsmith, based in Lewes, Delaware. Born and raised in the heart of Wisconsin, she creates work that explores themes of feminism, grief, and matrilineage, often drawing from deeply personal experiences. As a second-generation metal artist, Barden’s practice is profoundly influenced by her mother, whose creativity informs her passion for craft. Her work has been exhibited across the Midwest and beyond, showing at the Ella Sharp Museum of Jackson, Michigan, the Gallery at Kenilworth Square East in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Baltimore Jewelry Center in Baltimore, Maryland.
Barden held an internship with Jost Jewelry Manufacturing in West Allis, Wisconsin, where she achieved the first ever awarded Advanced Apprentice Graduate in Professional Jewelry Making & Repair certificate through the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America & U.S. Department of Labor. She recently graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio arts, studying jewelry and metalsmithing, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Barden currently works for the Heidi Lowe Gallery as a bench jeweler in preparation for graduate school, while keeping a consistent and intentional studio practice going.