What You Need to Know About Jeweler

Job Description & Duties Fabricate and repair jewelry articles. Make models or molds to create jewelry items.

Life As a Jeweler

• Lay out designs on metal stock, and cut along markings to fabricate pieces used to cast metal molds.
• Write or modify design specifications such as the metal contents and weights of items.
• Rotate molds in order to distribute molten material and prevent formation of air pockets.
• Smooth soldered joints and rough spots, using hand files and emery paper, and polish smoothed areas with polishing wheels or buffing wire.
• Press models into clay, and build up clay around exposed parts of models to retain plaster.
• Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.

What Every Jeweler Should Know

Jewelers state the following job skills are important in their day-to-day work.

Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Operations Analysis: Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Time Management: Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Types of Jeweler

• Bench Hand
• Bench Molder
• Jeweler
• Jeweler Apprentice
• Bench Molder Apprentice

Is There Job Demand for Jewelers?

There were about 37,700 jobs for Jeweler in 2016 (in the United States). There is little to no growth in job opportunities for Jeweler. There will be an estimated 3,500 positions for Jeweler per year.

The states with the most job growth for Jeweler are Idaho, South Carolina, and Nevada. Watch out if you plan on working in Tennessee, New Mexico, or Wisconsin. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Do Jewelers Make A Lot Of Money?

The average yearly salary of a Jeweler ranges between $23,530 and $67,250.

Jewelers who work in Kentucky, New Jersey, or Wisconsin, make the highest salaries.

How much do Jewelers make in different U.S. states?

State	Annual Mean Salary
Alabama	$41,320
Alaska	$33,520
Arizona	$45,860
Arkansas	$43,880
California	$40,940
Colorado	$42,490
Connecticut	$54,280
Delaware	$46,690
Florida	$41,300
Georgia	$36,350
Hawaii	$37,560
Idaho	$42,040
Illinois	$39,030
Indiana	$41,220
Iowa	$44,390
Kansas	$44,200
Kentucky	$55,840
Louisiana	$36,820
Maine	$43,950
Maryland	$51,920
Massachusetts	$44,480
Michigan	$40,580
Minnesota	$39,590
Mississippi	$27,820
Missouri	$38,330
Montana	$34,950
Nebraska	$30,680
Nevada	$46,200
New Hampshire	$48,280
New Jersey	$54,870
New Mexico	$30,480
New York	$50,380
North Carolina	$40,420
North Dakota	$52,090
Ohio	$38,180
Oklahoma	$41,100
Oregon	$52,580
Pennsylvania	$42,670
Rhode Island	$43,710
South Carolina	$40,270
South Dakota	$37,330
Tennessee	$46,740
Texas	$41,450
Utah	$36,900
Vermont	$40,010
Virginia	$48,330
Washington	$39,540
West Virginia	$39,120
Wisconsin	$52,050

What Tools & Technology do Jewelers Use?

Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Jewelers may use on a daily basis:

• Web browser software
• Intuit QuickBooks
• Inventory tracking software
• Customer information databases

Becoming a Jeweler

Education needed to be a Jeweler:

How many years of work experience do I need?

Jewelers Sector

Jewelers work in the following industries:

References:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• College Factual
• O*NET Online

Image Credit: Jorge Royan via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

More about our data sources and methodologies.