Statewide occupation search

Sort your search results or select and compare details of two occupations. Find out if an occupation is in demand or not in demand in your local area, at Learn about an occupation.

Statewide occupation search

Gem and Diamond Workers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Fabricate, finish, or evaluate the quality of gems and diamonds used in jewelry or industrial tools.

Related: Etchers & Engravers Grinding & Polishing Workers, Hand Jewelers & Precious Stone & Metal Workers Stone Cutters & Carvers, Manufacturing Tool Grinders, Filers, & Sharpeners

Industries: Retail Manufacturing

Summary
Details

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.
Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors.
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.
Hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them.
Hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them.
Select shaping wheels for tasks, and mix and apply abrasives, bort, or polishing compounds.
Dismantle lapping, boring, cutting, polishing, and shaping equipment and machinery to clean and lubricate it.
Immerse stones in prescribed chemical solutions to determine specific gravities and key properties of gemstones or substitutes.
Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items.
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.
Select shaping wheels for tasks, and mix and apply abrasives, bort, or polishing compounds.
Identify and document stones' clarity characteristics, using plot diagrams.
Secure gems or diamonds in holders, chucks, dops, lapidary sticks, or blocks for cutting, polishing, grinding, drilling, or shaping.
Measure sizes of stones' bore holes and cuts to ensure adherence to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
Sort rough diamonds into categories based on shape, size, color, and quality.

Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

60030/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

28.86/hr

Currently Employed

580

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Attention to Detail
Dependability
Persistence
Independence
Cooperation

Angle grinder
Arbors
Automatic lathe or chucking machine
Belt sander
Bench refractometers or polarimeters
Bench vises
Blow torch
Calipers
Conductivity meters
Cross and straight pein hammer
Cutting machines
Digital cameras
Drill vise
Engraving machines
Faceting laps
Faceting machines
General tool kits
Grinders
Grinding machines
Grinding or polishing machines
Hammers
Hand clamps
Hydrometers
Jewelry mandrels
Laboratory balances
Loupes
Magnifiers
Mechanical or ultrasonic metal cleaner
Micrometers
Monocular microscopes
Picks
Polariscopes
Power buffers
Power drills
Power saws
Precision file
Pressure or steam cleaners
Rulers
Saws
Spectrophotometers
Tape measures
Tumblers or polishers
Ultraviolet UV lamps

Accounting software
Analytical or scientific software
Computer aided design CAD software
Data base user interface and query software
Internet browser software
Inventory management software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Find Gem and Diamond Workers jobs Education and Training for Gem and Diamond Workers

Statewide occupation search

Statewide occupation search

Gem and Diamond Workers

Work Activities

Skills

Abilities

Knowledge

Education

Pay

Washington Employment Trends

Personality

Tools

Technology

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES