Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers

Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers typically perform the following 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. • Grade stones based on their color, perfection, and quality of cut. • Select and acquire metals and gems for designs. • Shape and straighten damaged or twisted articles by hand or using pliers. • Create new jewelry designs and modify existing designs, using computers as necessary. • Plate articles such as jewelry pieces and watch dials, using silver, gold, nickel, or other metals. • Record the weights and processing times of finished pieces. • Construct preliminary models of wax, metal, clay, or plaster, and form sample castings in molds. • Write or modify design specifications such as the metal contents and weights of items. • Soften metal to be used in designs by heating it with a gas torch and shape it, using hammers and dies. • Pierce and cut open designs in ornamentation, using hand drills and scroll saws. • Research and analyze reference materials, and consult with interested parties to develop new products or modify existing designs. • Mark, engrave, or emboss designs on metal pieces such as castings, wire, or jewelry, following specifications.