How to become a jewellery or Precious metal worker

Official title: Jewellery/Precious metal worker

Also called: Chain maker (precious metal), Gem cutter and polisher, Gem setter, Gold beater, Goldsmith, Hammerman (precious metal article), Industrial diamond cutter and polisher, Industrial diamond sawyer, Jewel cutter and polisher, Jewel setter, Jeweller, Jewellery enameller

Jewellery/Precious metal worker designs, fabricates, adjusts, repairs, or appraises jewellery, ceremonial or religious items, gold, silver, other precious metals or gems. He/she cuts, files, polishes and sets precious and semi-precious stones including gems and diamonds and engraves designs on jewellery and precious metal articles. He/she cuts and polishes diamonds for industrial purposes.

Main tasks

• Casting jewellery and other non-ferrous metal articles by hand
• Creating new jewellery designs and modifying existing designs, using computers as necessary
• Cutting designs in moulds or other materials to be used as models in the fabrication of metal and jewellery products
• Altering existing jewellery mountings in order to reposition jewels or to adjust mountings
• Repairing, reshaping and restyling old jewellery or precious metal ware following designs or instructions
• Making complete jewellery articles such as rings, necklaces, bangles, brooches and bracelets from materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and precious or semi-precious stones
• Examining gem surfaces and internal structures, using polariscopes, refractometers, microscopes, and other optical instruments to differentiate between stones, identify rare specimens or to detect flaws, defects, or peculiarities affecting gem values
• Cutting and polishing gems and setting them in jewellery articles

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

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• Potter and related worker
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Questions people ask

Will AI change the work of a jewellery or Precious metal worker?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026