Job Description, Daily Responsibilities, and Work Life
Gem And Diamond Workers
Gem And Diamond Workers fabricate, finish, or evaluate the quality of gems and diamonds used in jewelry or industrial tools.
Table of Contents
Job Description
Gem and Diamond Workers fabricate, finish, or evaluate the quality of gems and diamonds used in jewelry or industrial tools. They also examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
Other tasks include:
- Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems.
- Examine diamonds or gems to ascertain the shape, cut, and width of cut stones, or to select the cuts that will result in the biggest, best quality stones.
- Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors.
- Immerse stones in prescribed chemical solutions to determine specific gravities and key properties of gemstones or substitutes.
- Hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them.
- Sort rough diamonds into categories based on shape, size, color, and quality.
We asked Gem and Diamond Workers how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.
53%
28%
53% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 28% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.
Typical Day At Work
On a daily basis, Gem and Diamond Workers hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them. They estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors.
A typical day for a Gem and Diamond Worker will also include:
- Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
- Secure gems or diamonds in holders, chucks, dops, lapidary sticks, or blocks for cutting, polishing, grinding, drilling, or shaping.
- Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems.
- Select shaping wheels for tasks, and mix and apply abrasives, bort, or polishing compounds.
- Locate and mark drilling or cutting positions on stones or dies, using diamond chips and power hand tools.
We asked some Gem and Diamond Workers a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.
Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job? | 91% said yes | |
How important is it to work in a team in this job? | 73% said very important | |
Do you have group discussions everyday in this job? | 84% said yes | |
Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job? | 80% said yes | |
Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job? | 2% said yes | |
Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job? | 12% said yes |
Other responsibilities
Besides their typical day, Gem and Diamond Workers also replace, true, and sharpen blades, drills, and plates. They may also secure stones in metal mountings, using solder.
On a weekly to monthly basis, Gem and Diamond Workers Regulate the speed of revolutions and reciprocating actions of drilling mechanisms. They might also Dismantle lapping, boring, cutting, polishing, and shaping equipment and machinery to clean and lubricate it.
In addition, they Lap girdles on rough diamonds, using diamond girdling lathes.
Although specific duties may vary, many of them Split gems along pre-marked lines to remove imperfections, using blades and jewelers’ hammers.
To some Gem and Diamond Workers, it is also their responsibility to Examine gem surfaces and internal structures, using polariscopes, refractometers, microscopes, and other optical instruments, to differentiate between stones, to identify rare specimens, or to detect flaws, defects, or peculiarities affecting gem values.
Working life
More than 40 hours per week
Irregular work schedule that changes depending on weather conditions, customer demand or contract duration.
In a typical work week as a Gem and Diamond Worker, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.
Is this right for me
The Builders and The Thinkers
People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..
They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
You can read more about these career personality types here.
Learn more about Gem And Diamond Workers
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