After 12 years of hand engraving fine jewelry, I’ve decided it’s time to open the doors and start teaching.

I’m launching a YouTube channel dedicated to giving people a complete, well-rounded education in traditional hand engraving — the kind that uses hand-push analog gravers and real craftsmanship. My goal is simple but ambitious: teach as many people as possible the skills to become confident, capable hand engravers themselves.

For too long, traditional hand engraving has been quietly disappearing. The rise of pneumatic engraving systems made things faster to learn and easier on the hands, which is great in many ways. But because most available engraving education now focuses almost exclusively on pneumatic methods, the old-school hand techniques are fading — not just here in the US, but around the world.

I’ve observed how gatekeeping and limited access to real training has slowly shrunk the number of skilled hand engravers. At the same time, there’s an overwhelming amount of work available for traditional hand engraving. Jewelers, collectors, and clients are actively looking for it, but there simply aren’t enough engravers to meet the demand.

That’s why I’m stepping up.

I want to break down the walls, demystify the process, and share everything I’ve learned so far. I want to show that while learning traditional hand engraving is rigorous and takes real dedication, it’s not impossible. With the right guidance, anyone who’s willing to put in the practice can develop these skills and create beautiful work.

On the channel, I’ll be focusing heavily on the three core areas of hand engraving: lettering, patterns, and pictorial engraving. I’ll also dip into related techniques like relief engraving, bulino, chasing, repoussé, and more.

I’m especially excited that my own engraving master, Hratch Nargizian, has agreed to make special appearances. His decades of knowledge and experience will add incredible depth to the lessons as well as bring you into our personal teacher/student relationship.

At the end of the day, these beautiful crafts only survive if they’re passed on. I’m using my 12 years of experience to streamline a clear path forward — one that helps future engravers get solid footing, take charge of their own training, and eventually become the next generation of master hand engravers.

If you’ve ever been curious about traditional hand engraving, felt intimidated by it, or wished there was more honest, in-depth teaching available — this channel is for you.

I can’t wait to get started. Let’s keep this craft alive together.

— Marlen Hazel