The only goldsmith school in France has opened in Eure: “a very good chance of finding a job”

For around ten years, the Agglo Seine Eure has been mobilizing around an ecosystem of artistic crafts called “The factory of artistic crafts”, including training centers such as the Hermès school of know-how, the workshops and the Saint-Cyr square or even the Master Class-Collège M2 dedicated to design. The objective is to meet the demand of local businesses.

This month of December, a new milestone is reached with the inauguration of Greta The crafts factory in Seine Eure. “It’s a new training center, located at the Château de Tournebut, in Val d’Hazey, near Vernon. This 19th century manor was the seat of an ancient town. Unoccupied for years, it was completely redeveloped by the Agglo Seine Eure, equipped by Greta Portes de Normandie in partnership with, among others, the Christofle house, which provided a professional expert and recruited a work-study student and two interns,” explains Manuel Pichet, professional training advisor.

Many students in retraining

The establishment has a building on three levels which will receive, in the first quarter of 2026, certification in fashion jewelry for twelve trainees. “There is also an orangery which on November 24 welcomed the first class of seven students for a CAP in goldsmithing with a polisher-brightener option. It is the only 100% goldsmith training now in France, supported by the Greta CDMA (creation, design and crafts) affiliated with the Boulle school in Paris. »

A goldsmith-polisher-brightener works with noble and precious metals from creation to restoration “for the purposes of producing tableware, liturgical objects, trophies, etc. The applications are diverse.

4 to 5 years to make a complete goldsmith

“Goldsmiths who worked on objects after the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris,” recalls Manuel Pichet. In 800 hours, trainees learn turning, spinning, dent removal, modeling, polishing. The basics of the profession that they will then have to perfect with professionals. It takes four to five years to become a complete goldsmith. »

This course is accessible to everyone, with the exception of people who are in the school system. “We ask that people already have a CAP, because there is no general education. We also work with France Travail as part of Operational Preparation for Employment (POE). For this promotion, almost all people are retraining. They are aged between 20 and forty. They were selected on application with the main ambition of working on manual and technical gestures.

A versatile goldsmith and a polishing specialist supervise the apprentices. “It is professional training with compulsory modules including business risks, occupational first aid, art history and applied and technological art. It is a continuous assessment basis, which means that they take their exam as they go. Then, they have a very good chance of finding a job, because demand is high in proportion to the number of graduates. We also want to respond to the problem of transmitting knowledge: we need successors to existing craftsmen, many of whom will retire,” adds Manuel Pichet.

In the medium term, in addition to the opening of training in fashion jewelry, the Greta La Fabrique des Métiers d’Art training center aims to meet the needs of companies such as for example for employees of the saxophone manufacturer Henri Selmer Paris or even to open up to individuals for short training courses: “We set ourselves a high level of requirements”.