Profession jewellery designer

Jewellery designers use a variety of materials, including gold, silver and precious stones to design and plan pieces of jewellery that can have a wearable or decorative purpose. They are involved in the different stages of the making process and may design for individual clients or for mass production clients.

Personality Type

• Artistic / Enterprising

Knowledge

• Art history

  The history of art and artists, the artistic trends throughout centuries and their contemporary evolutions.

Skills

• Develop jewellery designs

  Develop new jewellery designs and products, and modify existing designs.

• Select metals for jewellery

  Select and purchase precious metals and alloys to use in jewellery pieces

• Gather reference materials for artwork

  Gather samples of the materials you expect to use in the creation process, especially if the desired piece of art necessitates the intervention of qualified workers or specific production processes.

• Trade in jewellery

  Buy and sell jewellery, or serve as an intermediate between potential buyers and sellers.

• Contextualise artistic work

  Identify influences and situate your work within a specific trend which may be of an artistic, aesthetic, or philosophical natures. Analyse the evolution of artistic trends, consult experts in the field, attend events, etc.

• Select gems for jewellery

  Select and purchase gems to use in jewellery pieces and designs.

• Adjust jewellery

  Reshape jewellery mountings.

• Use jewellery equipment

  Handle, modify, or repair jewellery-making equipment such as jigs, fixtures, and hand tools such as scrapers, cutters, gougers, and shapers.

• Collaborate with a technical staff in artistic productions

  Coordinate the artistic activities with others who are specialised in the technical side of the project. Inform the technical staff of the plans and methods suggested and obtain feedback on feasibility, cost, procedures and other relevant information. Be able to understand the vocabulary and practises concerning technical issues.

• Cut gem stones

  Cut and shape gemstones and jewellery pieces.

• Define artistic approach

  Define your own artistic approach by analysing your previous work and your expertise, identifying the components of your creative signature, and starting from these explorations to describe your artistic vision.

• Create jewellery

  Create pieces of jewellery using precious materials such as silver and gold.

• Repair jewellery

  Make jewellery repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewellery back together, and replacing broken or worn-out clasps and mountings.

• Ensure conformance to jewel design specifications

  Examine finished jewellery products to ensure that they meet quality standards and design specifications. Use magnifying glasses, polariscopes or other optical instruments.

• Record jewel weight

  Record the weight of finished jewellery pieces.

• Smoothen rough jewel parts

  Smoothen rough parts of pieces of jewellery using hand files and emery paper.

• Clean jewellery pieces

  Clean and polish metal items and pieces of jewellery; handle mechanical jewellery-making tools such as polishing wheels.

• Heat jewellery metals

  Heat, melt and shape metals for jewellery making.

• Mount stones in jewels

  Mount gemstones in pieces of jewellery closely following design specifications. Place, set and mount gemstones and metal parts.

• Build jewellery models

  Construct preliminary jewel models using wax, plaster or clay. Create sample castings in moulds.

• Calculate value of gems

  Determine appraised value of gemstones such as diamonds and pearls; study price guides, market fluctuations and grades of rarity.

• Record jewel processing time

  Record the amount of time it took to process an item of jewellery.

• Mark designs on metal pieces

  Mark or engrave designs on metal pieces or pieces of jewellery, closely following design specifications.

• Examine gems

  Closely examine gemstone surfaces using polariscopes or other optical instruments.

• Cast jewellery metal

  Heat and melt jewellery materials; pour in moulds to cast jewellery models. Use jewellery-making material such as spanners, pliers or presses.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB