Career as a Jewelry Designer

Take a shine to it the gems and jewelry industry has many career opportunities across many sectors. Most of the students usually opt for engineering, medicine, law and dentistry or even ITI courses, but very few choose a career in the gems and jewelry industry. However, whether it is about designing or management or finance, this is an industry which offers much scope. The gem and jewelers industry has mostly been a family business for many years, and this has given rise to the perception that there are no opportunities for those who don’t come from such a background. But, speak to those in the field and they say that there is huge scope for many across sectors — whether manufacturing or distribution or retail or wholesale, apart from designers.
All India Gems and Jewelry Trade Federation, The diamond industry is expected to grow at 20-25 per cent per annum, gold and jewelry by 10-12 per cent. This is the sector of the future; there are a lot of openings even in HR, finance, marketing, production. It offers complete all-round exposure to good work. So far, most of the trade secrets in this industry were passed on from generation to generation. But now, there’s felt a need for a professional management. Alongside, industry experts also see a need for education and training in the field, and the value that is added to the profits through educated and trained personnel.
What is also interesting about the field is that it is a combination of many fields. In that sense, it is unique. For example, it includes metallurgy since it is about alloys and metals. It is also about geography, mineralogy, and finance and management. So, it’s quite a bit of a technical field; but there are not enough technical personnel.
Also, it is a field that offers glamour and grandeur. Since you deal with color and designs, there’s aesthetics in plenty. Talking of designers, this is a career in which both male and female employees can flourish, as long as they have a creative bent of mind. There are other plus points: as a designer, you can set trends. This is because every jeweler creates something new. So, you can actually quantify how much you have contributed to the revenues of your company. And the best thing is that you can go beyond the traditional products — you could design spectacle frames, pens or even artefacts. But what do you need to be a jewelry designer? All the students must understand the cultural context, and possess drawing skills. The cultural context, the local culture and lifestyle are important for a designer. When you see ethnic jewelry, you realize they are derivations from designs used for decorative purposes, as in walls on people’s houses. They could come from tribal paintings on walls. Indian jewelry is influenced strongly by Persian and Nizams traditions.

• NIFT offers jewelry design as a part of the course in accessory design under Bachelor of Design (B Des).
• There are around 3, 00,000 jewelers in the country
• The diamond industry is expected to grow at 20-25 per cent per annum
• The gold and jewelry industry is expected to grow at 10-12 per cent per annum