There are still apprenticeships available, but you’ll have to work to find one.

There was an interesting discussion thread on the Ganoskin Orchid Forum a week or two ago about apprenticeships. If you have not found the Orchid forum below, I highly recommend it. All the discussion threads are archived, so you should be able to use the search function to find information regarding jewelry/metalsmithing apprenticeships.

Gansokin is a wonderful site for jewelry professionals, students, and anyone else interested in jewelry. You’ll find some very notable people participating in the forums and a wealth of information archived from both the discussion threads and articles, books, and other resources.

I am certain that you will find people knowledgable about the London jewelry scene and potential opportunities for apprenticeship there by posting a question in the Ganoskin Forum.

Good luck.

Don’t know how it is over there, but here in the states, the apprenticeship program is pretty much dead. However, many universities offer jewelry and metalsmithing in their art programs here. Perhaps you could go back to school part-time and pick up the skills you need. Then, at the very least, you can design and sell your stuff independently.