VerifiedJewellery design is funded from an unexpected direction: mining. Jewellery manufacture is the last step in the precious metals value chain, so the Mining Qualifications Authority funds it alongside geology and metallurgy. That single fact makes this the best-funded discipline in the visual arts.
It also means the qualification you choose matters. A jewellery design course and a jewellery manufacture qualification are different things, and the industry money follows the second.
Design against manufacture
- Jewellery design. Drawing, computer-aided design, concept and presentation. Taught at art and design schools.
- Jewellery manufacture. Setting, casting, polishing, working in precious metal. Taught at universities of technology and specialist centres, and treated by the MQA as a trade-adjacent skill.
- Diamond and gemstone work. Cutting, polishing and grading, a separate skill set again, concentrated in Johannesburg and Kimberley.
If funding is tight, apply for the manufacture route. It is the one with industry money attached.
Bursaries for jewellery
- Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA)
- KwaZulu-Natal government bursaries
- KZN Department of Sport, Arts and Culture
General scholarships that include jewellery design: Allan Gray Orbis Fellowship, Canon Collins Tom Queba Scholarship, NYDA Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund, Bridgestone.
See also our fine art bursaries, fashion and textile bursaries and geology bursaries pages, the last because it explains how MQA funding works.