Revere Academy to Close

San Francisco--After nearly 40 years in operation, San Francisco’s Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts will close at the end of the week.

Over the summer, the school’s founder, German-trained master goldsmith and award-winning designer Alan Revere, announced his intention to retire and said he was looking for a buyer for his business.

Early Monday, however, the school sent out a press release stating that it will cease operations Friday, following the graduation of the 34th Jewelry Technician Intensive class and won’t offer any classes in 2018.

In an interview with National Jeweler back in July, the 70-year-old Revere said he’s had a “great run” with the school, which he opened in 1979 after returning from goldsmith training in Germany.

Over the years, Revere and his staff have trained more than 10,000 students from all over the world, including serious jewelry designers like Dana Bronfman as well as jewelry hobbyists. The school’s curriculum was largely based on the seven books written by Revere.

“The school has been fantastic,” he said. “I’ve met so many people and been able to help so many people.”

He added Revere Academy also has achieved his goal of bringing more beauty into the world.

“(Making jewelry), it’s not like making refrigerators or shoelaces. It’s special,” Revere said, “and I’ve been part of it. It feels so good.”

In retirement, he plans to spend time traveling the West in his VW bus, which, in a way, is coming full circle for the jewelry designer.

Revere graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in psychology and had planned to go to law school, but a trip to Woodstock in the summer of 1969 changed his mind: he wanted to become an artist.

He spent a year driving around in a VW bus and found his passion at the Instituto Allende in Mexico, where he began making jewelry.

After two years in Mexico, he moved to Germany to study at the famed Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Pforzheim. Five years after returning from overseas, he opened his own jewelry-making school in San Francisco.

Now, Revere said, it’s time for the next chapter in his life.

“It just seems like time,” he said.