Pin Mechanisms and Brooch Back Design Workshop with Daniela Malev
A four-day workshop with Daniela Malev (Germany) exploring the functionality and aesthetics of pin mechanisms and brooch back design. Hosted in partnership between George Brown College and Craft Ontario.
*A minimum of one year of formal studies in goldsmithing or jewellery making is required to participate in this advanced workshop
*Please note that eligibility for a refund will close one (1) week before the workshop start date
Dates:
October 21-24, 2025
9:00 am - 4:00 pm each day / 24 hours total
Location:
George Brown College School of Fashion & Jewellery
Casa Loma Campus
160 Kendal Ave., Room C511
Toronto, ON
Mechanism and attachment of a brooch hold a tremendous potential for the design of a brooch in its entirety and need to be developed with equal importance. This workshop will initiate and encourage a conscious approach to the design of the brooch back and its mechanisms. The participants are introduced to a variety of pin mechanisms and learn how to realize them technically. They will be guided through exercises on different needle techniques and ways of thinking about what a needle can be and how it can be solved. The participant will learn and understand the integration of the brooch back and the pin mechanism into the whole creative process of making a brooch. In the beginning the workshop teaches technical skills and participants will make a lot of tryouts and sample pieces on different possibilities and techniques of pin mechanisms, which they can take home and keep as lasting reference to technical solutions, but moreover they will understand a new way of thinking: a holistic approach to the brooch, and that functional solutions on the backside of a brooch are inseparable from the front and are part of the whole design of a brooch. Daniela Malev will bring a large collection of brooches as examples and analyze and explain them to students, so they get an idea of the variety of possibilities and different types of mechanisms and design options. Students receive handouts with explanations and will be assigned to practice and understand various techniques of pin mechanisms by making tryouts and models. Participants can also bring work from their ongoing projects and apply and discuss new insights and future steps for their own creative practice. All results will be discussed in group and individual consultations.
Materials that students need to bring:
Most workshops materials (metal sheet, wood, cardboard, stainless steel wire, etc.) will be provided. Please bring your basic bench tools. Please don’t bring finished pieces which are just “missing the pin”. You may bring different materials, fragments or tryouts from your ongoing research or projects which you would like to turn into a brooch, and which could become a prototype for pieces you will do after the workshop. For consultations and critiques, students can also bring pieces which are already finished so we can discuss and analyze the mechanism or what could be done differently in the future.
About Daniela Malev
Daniela Malev is a jeweller and teacher. Trained as a goldsmith in her hometown of Dresden, Germany, she also holds a Master Craftsman Certificate for Gold and Silversmithing and studied Jewellery Design at Staatliche Zeichenakademie Hanau. She concluded her formal studies with a BA and MFA degree in Gemstone and Jewellery Design at the University of Applied Sciences Trier/Idar-Oberstein, Germany. She has lectured and taught workshops throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. One of her special fields of interest is brooch backs and pin mechanisms with her research resulting in the publishing of her first book “To The Point”. She is currently investigating the subject of “connections” in jewellery design and will soon publish a second book about this topic.