83. JEWELLERY DESIGNER JOB

Jewellery designers design and make body adornments using a variety of materials, including gold, silver and precious stones. Practicing one of the oldest crafts, designers create pieces that can have great sentimental significance or symbolic meaning. They must be able to relate well to their clients in order to understand design specifications, as well as master the creative and practical skills needed to make a product. A mixture of creative skills and commercial awareness is vital in producing original pieces of jewellery. The design process is complex and involves a series of stages, each requiring different abilities on the part of the designer.
For a self-employed jewellery designer, typical hands-on activities include designing - computer-aided design is used to produce images of how a piece of jewellery might look, mounting - making the framework for the piece of jewellery. This involves handling, forming and drilling metal, and opening out holes in which to place the selected gems, stone setting - making adjustments to the mount to ensure the stones fit perfectly. This can involve very intricate work, e.g. removing tiny fractions of metal, polishing - ensuring the finish of the piece, model making (casting) - making an object or decorative detail using a mould. The mould can be made from a range of materials including sculpted wax, plaster, metal or sand, stamping and presswork, chasing - making a raised pattern on the surface of the metal, electro-plating - layering a precious metal onto a base metal, enameling - fusing powdered glass to metal in a kiln to create colored patterns and pictures.
A self-employed also indulge in welding - joining pieces of metal using traditional methods or by laser, engraving - carving lettering or patterns into precious metals by hand or by computer-aided manufacture. When working for a company, a distinction is made between the design and the production. All the above activities are divided into separate job roles. Client-based activities will include holding consultations with commissioning clients, discussing a client's range of options and formulating original ideas, sketching out ideas to help the client visualize the finished design. Promoting and developing the business is crucial for success as a jewellery designer. Many designers try to boost their reputation by networking, entering competitions, attending fairs and producing high-quality work.
Other activities include: consulting with galleries, store buyers and suppliers and researching jewellery trends and keeping an eye on the fashion world to keep abreast of developments in the industry.