Learn the trade from a
Second Generation Jeweler
with 37 years at the bench.
No experience required.
Pick a single 5-day class or work toward a diploma — every course is hands-on, small enough that your instructor knows your name, and taught by working Goldsmith, not from a textbook.
4 Diploma Tracks
Diamond setting, Hand Engraving, Goldsmithing / Bench Jeweler
30 individual Courses
a low-cost way in, focused single-skill courses, and a diploma that bundles it all together.
4-6 Students
Katy, Texas
Per class — real instruction,
not a lecture hall
Private workshop
Course Tracks
Each track runs from a short, low-commitment entry level course through a full diploma — take one class, or follow the whole ladder.
ABOUT US
A School Built by Someone Who Started at 14
The Jewelry Institute of America began with Gabriel Owen, who started working in his father's jewelry factory at age 14 — first in the Levant, then in the United States. That early start became a lifetime: Gabriel went on to become a Graduate Gemologist through the GIA, then trained further in Belgium, studying diamond setting under master setter Alexander Sidorov.
He went on to own jewelry stores in both the United States and Australia, opening the first branch of JIA in Australia in 2016 before relocating the school entirely to Katy, Houston, TX, where it operates today.
That same principle carries through everything JIA teaches:
real trade experience, taught directly, in small classes where the instructor knows your name.
FACULTY
International Training, Under One Roof
JIA's faculty draws on training most jewelry schools can't offer. Gabriel Owen holds a Graduate Gemologist certification from the GIA and trained under master setter Alexander Sidorov in Belgium. Lilo Palma leads the Goldsmith Technician program at Academia De Orfebres in Mexico City, Mexico, and teaches that same program for JIA students in Katy, Houston, TX, through the schools' exclusive partnership. She is a graduate of the School of Goldsmiths in Pforzheim, Germany, one of the most respected goldsmithing institutions in the world, and her work has been exhibited internationally, with pieces held in museum collections in Paris and Madrid.
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when you enroll at JIA, you're not learning from people who studied the trade from a distance. You're learning from a Belgian-trained diamond setter and a Pforzheim-trained goldsmith, in the same room, at the same bench.
Gabriel Owen
DIRECTOR & INSTRUCTOR
GIA Graduate Gemologist. Trained in diamond setting under Alexander Sidorov in Belgium. 37 years at the bench.
Lilo Palma
DIRECTOR & INSTRUCTOR @ ADO
Graduate, School of Goldsmiths, Pforzheim, Germany. Work exhibited in museums in Paris and Madrid.
Contact US
Address
Katy, TX 77450
Mobile
718-790-7008
Opening Hours
Mon - Fri
10:00 am – 04:00 pm