Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
Design, fabricate, adjust, repair, or appraise jewelry, gold, silver, other precious metals, or gems.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Design
- Production and Processing
- Sales and Marketing
- Administration and Management
- Mechanical
- Administrative
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- Position stones and metal pieces, and set, mount, and secure items in place, using setting and hand tools.
- 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.
- Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.
- Clean and polish metal items and jewelry pieces, using jewelers' tools, polishing wheels, and chemical baths.
- Cut and file pieces of jewelry such as rings, brooches, bracelets, and lockets.
- Select and acquire metals and gems for designs.
- Compute costs of labor and materials to determine production costs of products and articles.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Artistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (25.3% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (25.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (29.3%)
- 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 Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
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 | Low | Lower on contact with others than 62% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 52% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 59% of occupations compared | 66% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 92% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 95% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 66% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 64% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 72% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- 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: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 28.49%
- Contact with others most of the time: 18.79%
- Constant contact with others: 52.71%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 27.06%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 16.32%
- Very important: 13.28%
- Extremely important: 43.34%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2025
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 19.56%
- Important: 10.9%
- Very important: 3.94%
- Extremely important: 65.59%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2025
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 28.89%
- A lot of freedom: 71.11%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2025
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 35.81%
- Every day: 64.19%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2025
Conflict situations
- Never: 10.57%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.46%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12.45%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 39.87%
- Every day: 8.66%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 2.74%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.29%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 47.36%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.16%
- Every day: 13.45%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2025
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 16.82%
- Fairly serious: 48.99%
- Serious: 14.88%
- Very serious: 3.89%
- Extremely serious: 15.42%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2025
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners
Closeness 92/100
- Analyze
Etchers and Engravers
Closeness 91/100 · job zone -1
- Analyze
Glass Blowers, Molders, Benders, and Finishers
Closeness 91/100 · job zone -1
- Analyze
Craft Artists
Closeness 91/100
- Analyze
Audio and Video Technicians
Closeness 90/100
- Analyze
Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
Closeness 90/100 · job zone -1
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 51-9071.00 · SOC 51-9071 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8