What Do Jewelers Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Jewelers fabricate and repair jewelry articles. Make models or molds to create jewelry items. They also smooth soldered joints and rough spots, using hand files and emery paper, and polish smoothed areas with polishing wheels or buffing wire.

Other tasks include:

• Position stones and metal pieces, and set, mount, and secure items in place, using setting and hand tools.
• Create jewelry from materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious or semiprecious stones.
• Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.
• Clean and polish metal items and jewelry pieces, using jewelers’ tools, polishing wheels, and chemical baths.
• Select and acquire metals and gems for designs.
• Compute costs of labor and materials in order to determine production costs of products and articles.

We asked Jewelers how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

---

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, Jewelers smooth soldered joints and rough spots, using hand files and emery paper, and polish smoothed areas with polishing wheels or buffing wire. They make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.

A typical day for a Jeweler will also include:

• Compute costs of labor and materials in order to determine production costs of products and articles.
• Mark and drill holes in jewelry mountings in order to center stones according to design specifications.
• Examine gemstone surfaces and internal structures to evaluate genuineness, quality, and value, using polariscopes, refractometers, and other optical instruments.
• Position stones and metal pieces, and set, mount, and secure items in place, using setting and hand tools.
• Select and acquire metals and gems for designs.

We asked some Jewelers 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?	63% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	4% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	75% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	21% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	0% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	43% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Jewelers also rotate molds in order to distribute molten material and prevent formation of air pockets. They may also assemble and secure mold sections used to cast metal articles and pieces.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Jewelers Place metal samples in frames, pack raw rubber around samples, and clamp samples, frames, and rubber into vulcanizing machines. They might also Fabricate, modify, or repair jigs, fixtures, and hand tools such as scrapers, cutters, gougers, and shapers.

In addition, they Remove molds from cast articles, clean them, and apply shellac and powder to preserve them for reuse.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Weigh, mix, and melt metal alloys or materials needed for jewelry models.

To some Jewelers, it is also their responsibility to Pour molten metal alloys or other materials into molds in order to cast models of jewelry.

Working life

Standard 40 hour work week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as a Jeweler, you can expect to work 40 hour work week.

Is this right for me

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 forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/production/jewelers-and-precious-stone-and-metal-workers.htm

http://www.gia.edu/

http://www.jewelers.org/

http://www.mjsa.org/