Gem and Diamond Processing Workers
Overview
Gem and Diamond Processing Workers carefully cut, shape, polish, and grade gems and diamonds so they can be used in high-end jewelry or in precision industrial tools. They use specialized machines, rotating cutting wheels, and tools like loupes, microscopes, refractometers, and polariscopes to check angles, clarity, and internal structures, then assign official grades for polish, symmetry, and clarity. They also make business decisions by estimating wholesale and retail prices based on market trends and advising jewelry designers and customers on how to use each stone for the most attractive and valuable results.
Did you know?
Success requires extensive hands-on training through formal gemology programs or apprenticeships, as precision work with valuable materials demands expert-level skills.
At a Glance
Growth
Stable
Top Skill
Negotiation
Key Responsibilities
- Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items.
- Hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them.
- Dismantle lapping, boring, cutting, polishing, and shaping equipment and machinery to clean and lubricate it.
- 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.
- Measure sizes of stones' bore holes and cuts to ensure adherence to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
- Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
- 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.
- Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors.
- Secure gems or diamonds in holders, chucks, dops, lapidary sticks, or blocks for cutting, polishing, grinding, drilling, or shaping.
- Identify and document stones' clarity characteristics, using plot diagrams.
- Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems.
- Select shaping wheels for tasks, and mix and apply abrasives, bort, or polishing compounds.
- Immerse stones in prescribed chemical solutions to determine specific gravities and key properties of gemstones or substitutes.
- Sort rough diamonds into categories based on shape, size, color, and quality.
Career Considerations
Specialized Training Requirements
Success requires extensive hands-on training through formal gemology programs or apprenticeships, as precision work with valuable materials demands expert-level skills.
Economic Sensitivity
Employment opportunities fluctuate significantly with economic conditions since luxury jewelry purchases are often among the first expenses consumers cut during financial downturns.
Global Competition Pressure
American gem and diamond workers face increasing competition from lower-cost overseas production and the growing acceptance of lab-created diamonds in the marketplace.