Production
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
Design, fabricate, adjust, repair, or appraise jewelry, gold, silver, other precious metals, or gems.
Median pay
$52,540
Growth to 2035
−3%
declining
Openings a year
3,700
Time to qualify*
12 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers: 47% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Clean and polish metal items and jewelry pieces, using jewelers' tools, polishing wheels, and chemical baths.
- Smooth soldered joints and rough spots, using hand files and emery paper, and polish smoothed areas with polishing wheels or buffing wire.
- Create jewelry from materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious or semiprecious stones.
- Cut and file pieces of jewelry such as rings, brooches, bracelets, and lockets.
- Examine assembled or finished products to ensure conformance to specifications, using magnifying glasses or precision measuring instruments.
- Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.
- Compute costs of labor and materials to determine production costs of products and articles.
- Position stones and metal pieces, and set, mount, and secure items in place, using setting and hand tools.
Also called: Appraiser · Artisan Jeweler · Bench Jeweler · Caster · Gemologist · Goldsmith · Jeweler · Polisher
Outlook and AI
Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers held 32,800 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 31,800 by 2035 (−3%, declining; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers vs. Etchers and engravers
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers vs. Grinding and polishing workers, hand
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers vs. Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers vs. Craft artist
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- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers vs. Painting, coating, and decorating workers
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers vs. Sewers, hand
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers vs. Tool and die makers