Occupation Details
Gem and Diamond Workers
Fabricate, finish, or evaluate the quality of gems and diamonds used in jewelry or industrial tools.
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Interests
Realistic
Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Investigative
Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Work Values
Working Conditions
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.
Support
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Independence
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Salary & Job Outlook
Starting Salary
$37,470.00
New York StateMedian Salary
$49,890.00
New York StateExperienced Salary
$66,080.00
New York StateNational Average for Comparison
New York State Job Market Outlook
Jobs Right Now (2018)
4,430
professionals in NYFuture Job Growth (2030)
4,890
+46 jobs/yearNew Jobs Every Year
606
new opportunities yearlyGrowth Rate
0.1%
projected increasePreparation: Experience, Training, and Education
The list below outlines the prior educational experience required to perform in this occupation.
College Helps - Some college classes or training
Experience Requirements
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Education Requirements
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Training Details
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Transferrable Skills and Experience
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, desktop publishers, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters and simultaneous captioners, and medical assistants.
School Programs
The following lists school programs which are applicable to this occupation.
Licensing & Certification
State License and Certifications Requirements are not currently associated with this occupation.
Apprenticeship
Contact your regional representative to learn more about apprenticeships available in your area by visiting Apprenticeship Contacts.
Skills
The list below includes the skills required by workers in this occupation; skills are what allow you to learn more quickly and improve your performance.
Quality Control Analysis
Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Skill level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Knowledge
The list below includes knowledge items, the principles and facts required by this occupation.
Customer and Personal Service
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Production and Processing
Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
English Language
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Mathematics
Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Sales and Marketing
Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administration and Management
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Knowledge level is measured on a seven point scale, where one means 'some competence required for this occupation' and seven means 'a high level of expertise required for this occupation'.
Work Environment
The list below includes the physical and social factors that influence the nature of work in this occupation.
Hover over or tap each factor to see its description.
Work Styles
Included in the list below are the personal work style characteristics that can affect how well a worker is likely to perform in this occupation.
Achievement/Effort
Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Analytical Thinking
Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Attention to Detail
Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Cooperation
Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability
Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Independence
Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Initiative
Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Integrity
Job requires being honest and ethical.
Persistence
Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Stress Tolerance
Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Tools & Technology
This list below describes the machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology that workers in this occupation will use.
Tools
- Angle grinders
- Arbors
- Bead drilling vises
- Belt sanders
- Bench refractometers
- Crack hammers
- Cross peen hammers
- Cutting laps
- Diamond girding lathes
- Diamond grinders
- Diamond saws
- Digital balances
- Digital calipers
- Digital micrometers
- Digital polariscopes
- Digital still cameras
- Faceting machines
- Gem drills
- Glass bevelers
- Glass cutting saws
- Glass polishers
- Grinders
- Handheld magnifiers
- Inspection microscopes
- Jewelers kits
- Jewelers' hammers
- Jewelers' loupes
- Jewelers' mandrels
- Lapidary slitters
- Lapidary units
Technology
- Business accounting software
- Gem identification databases
- GemCad
- Inventory tracking software
- Jewelry design software
- Spectrophotometer analysis software
Duties
Duties are job behaviors describing activities that occur on multiple jobs. The generalized and detailed work activities described in the list below apply to this occupation.
- maintain or repair industrial or related equipment/machinery
- measure, weigh, or count products or materials
- cut gemstones
- use precision measuring tools or equipment
- use hand or power tools
- operate glass or stone working equipment/machinery
- examine products or work to verify conformance to specifications
- read specifications
- fabricate components for precision instruments
- fabricate, assemble, or disassemble manufactured products by hand
- make independent judgment in assembly procedures
Tasks
The list below outlines specific tasks that a worker in this occupation is called upon to do regularly.
- Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
- 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.
- 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.
- Identify and document stones' clarity characteristics, using plot diagrams.
- Secure gems or diamonds in holders, chucks, dops, lapidary sticks, or blocks for cutting, polishing, grinding, drilling, or shaping.
- Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items.
- Locate and mark drilling or cutting positions on stones or dies, using diamond chips and power hand tools.
- Place stones in clamps on polishing machines and polish facets of stones, using felt-covered or canvas-covered polishing wheels and polishing compounds such as tripoli and rouge.
- Lap girdles on rough diamonds, using diamond girdling lathes.
- Measure sizes of stones' bore holes and cuts to ensure adherence to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
- Select shaping wheels for tasks, and mix and apply abrasives, bort, or polishing compounds.
- Split gems along pre-marked lines to remove imperfections, using blades and jewelers' hammers.
- Regulate the speed of revolutions and reciprocating actions of drilling mechanisms.
- Replace, true, and sharpen blades, drills, and plates.
- Secure stones in metal mountings, using solder.
- Dismantle lapping, boring, cutting, polishing, and shaping equipment and machinery to clean and lubricate it.
- Regrind drill points, and advance drill cutting points according to specifications for channel depths and shapes.
Learning Resources
More information on this occupation may be found in the links provided below.
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
Visit this link for additional information on this career from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; a publication produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
Learn More