Gem and Diamond Workers
Fabricate, finish, or evaluate the quality of gems and diamonds used in jewelry or industrial tools.
Most important skills
- Quality Control Analysis
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Writing
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- Sales and Marketing
- Economics and Accounting
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- English Language
What the work involves
- 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.
- Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors.
- 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.
- Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items.
- 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.
- Secure gems or diamonds in holders, chucks, dops, lapidary sticks, or blocks for cutting, polishing, grinding, drilling, or shaping.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (20.7% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (59%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (49.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Gem and Diamond Workers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 51-9071 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 59% of occupations compared | 74% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 89% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 86% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 82% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 60% of occupations compared | 68% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 80% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 60% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 77% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Occasional contact with others: 12.14%
- Contact with others about half the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Contact with others most of the time: 13.75%
- Constant contact with others: 74.11%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 6.28%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 8.97%
- Very important: 13.34%
- Extremely important: 71.42%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 13.25%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 7.5%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 8.97%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 10.27%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 1.53%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 68.23%
- Every day: 19.97%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 12.04%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 18.39%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 2.8%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 17.93%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.78%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 10.47%
- Every day: 0%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 3.3%
- Very serious: 2.84%
- Extremely serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 51-9071.06 · SOC 51-9071 (detailed_parent, medium confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8