Third-year apprentice Jyothi Forman was named the gold medal winner in the Metals and Engineering – Jewellery category of the 2014 WorldSkills Australia National Competition.
The biennial event – described as the “Skills Olympics” – took place from 18 to 20 September in Perth and this year attracted almost 500 Australian trade and skill technicians who competed across 49 categories.
Competitors in the jewellery category were judged over the three days on their interpretation of design, dimensions, saw piercing, soldering and surface finish of an 18-carat piece of yellow gold jewellery. The judging panel consisted of Darren May from Palloys Group, jewellery trade lecturer Peter Keep and jeweller Halina Kaufman.
NSW-based Douglas Ely received the silver medal while South Australian-based Samantha Kelly took bronze.
Preparing for gold
Forman, who has been working at Georgies Fine Jewellery in NSW since April 2012, told Jeweller that she spent a large number of hours training for the national competition.
“Winning the competition was fantastic and it is so great to have months of hard work pay off,” Forman said.
She explained that it was rewarding to be able to produce the jewellery piece not only under high-pressure conditions but also in front of an audience – an environment which she said was vastly different from working in the Georgies Fine Jewellery workshop in Narooma.
“We are all so proud of Jyothi’s achievement,” Georgina Staley, founder of Georgies Fine Jewellery, said. “She is a very dedicated girl and is determined to be the best she can be. I feel she is a role model for all young jewellers who want to get the most out of their profession.”
Staley added it was important to support apprentices given the current shortage of jewellers: “I have always been a strong believer in the apprenticeship system – it’s just part of giving back to the industry.”
This is not the first time Forman has been recognised for her skills – in 2013, she was named the best second-year apprentice at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT) and also won Nationwide Jewellers’ Apprentice of the Year Award in 2013 and 2014.
When asked if she had a message for her peers that might consider entering the competition, Forman responded, “Make the most of such a great opportunity. Just by entering at a regional level you will improve your skills and you have nothing to lose.”
The apprentice has now applied to represent Australia at the WorldSkills International competition in Brazil in August next year. WorldSkills Australia is expected to make a preliminary announcement on the 2015 “Skillaroos” by the end of October, with the team to be finalised in May next year.
Australia’s jewellery industry fared well at the 2013 WorldSkills international event in Germany, with Perth-based jewellery apprentice Tayron Scagnetti being awarded a silver medal. He finished just one point behind the Korean gold medal winner.
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