Tayron Scagnetti, a 22-year-old jeweller at Scagnetti Fine Jewellers in Perth, has won the silver medal for jewellery manufacturing at WorldSkills International in Germany.
Scagnetti was selected to represent Australia in the event late last year after winning the gold medal for jewellery manufacturing in WorldSkills Australia.
He then undertook extensive training alongside WorldSkills expert Darren May (the NSW and ACT manager at Palloys Group) and industry mentors in the lead-up to the international competition in Leipzig this month which attracted 16 jewellery manufacturing entrants.
All the entrants were required to manufacture specific components each day for three days during the competition and were then required to assemble the pieces into a complete jewellery piece on the fourth day.
May said that he was very proud of Scagnetti who had “worked like a champion from day one” in the competition.
“He stuck to the work plan and maximised every opportunity that came his way,” he said.
“All of his hard work and excellent commitment to training paid off.”
Scagnetti, whose father owned a jewellery company in Rome before relocating to Australia in 1988 and establishing Scagnetti Jewellery in Cottesloe, “grew up with jewels”.
He said he started tinkering with jewellery around the age of 14 but didn’t get serious about jewellery as “both a skill and a career” until he was 16.
“I love the creative aspect of creating something from raw materials,” he said.
“My style is unique with a mix of classic and modern influencers. I particularly like making rings and working with platinum for both the challenge and the thrill of working with prestige metals.”
Hong Jeon from Korea won the gold medal in the WorldSkills International jewellery manufacturing category.