“Big girls need big diamonds.”

Elizabeth Tailor, Actress

Pros and Cons of Working as a Jeweler

You think about a career as a jeweler but are not yet sure whether this would actually be the right job for you or not? Good news!

I will show you all the pros and cons of being a jeweler in this article so that you can make a better decision regarding this important topic.

Jeweler Job Profile

Advantages of Working as a Jeweler

1. Jewelers can work indoors
2. You can get in touch with many different people
3. You can open your own jewelry business
4. You can be creative at work
5. You can surprise your family and friends with fancy jewelry
6. Jewelers don’t have to work on weekends
7. You will not have to work many hours as a goldsmith or jeweler
8. You can make our lives more sustainable
9. Jewelers work with nice things all day long
10. You can avoid office work
11. Jewelers see results quickly
12. Working as a jeweler is not that stressful
13. You will not have to work in a hard physical manner
14. You don’t need a college degree for working as a goldsmith
15. You don’t have to take on student loan debt
16. Jewelers can become independent of their parents rather easily
17. You can make money on the side

Jewelers can work indoors

One advantage of being a jeweler is that you don’t have to work under extreme climatic conditions outdoors as garbage collectors and many other people have to do.

Instead, you can work indoors in a rather cozy environment where you can use our modern technologies to make your time at work as comfortable as possible.

Hence, while you might take it for granted to work indoors since many of your friends might do so, you should not think that this is true for all people and there will be indeed many people out there who would love to change places with you in this regard.

You can get in touch with many different people

As a goldsmith, you will also get in touch with many different people.

In fact, you will have many different clients each day and while it can be demanding to deal with many different character types, you will also learn quite a lot since you will always be challenged to repair new things.

In turn, you will become really good at what you are doing and if you are willing to work hard on yourself, chances are that you will become a real jewelry expert in the long run and that you will get more jobs from your clients than you could ever carry out.

You can open your own jewelry business

You also don’t have to work as an employee in the jewelry industry forever.

Instead, you can just start out as a regular employee, get some experience and save some money and then quit your job and start your own business.

Sure, this is not for everyone since having your own business also implies that you will have to deal with many problems and that you will also work more hours compared to a regular employee on average.

However, if you really want to grow things and you have the kind of entrepreneurial DNA, chances are that you will become much happier with being a self-employed goldsmith compared to just working as an employee forever.

As a goldsmith, you can fulfill this dream rather easily since you can start out as one-man show and expand your business once it makes enough money from there.

You can be creative at work

Since you will also create some unique pieces of jewelry, you will also be able to be pretty creative at work. Sure, this is not for everyone and you should also have a certain level of talent in this regard.

However, if you are a creative person who really wants to express yourself and also wants to make something unique during work, a goldsmith career may be a great way to go for you in this regard.

You can surprise your family and friends with fancy jewelry

Another benefit of working as a goldsmith is that you will also be able to create nice things for your family and friends.

Quite often, jewelry will be pretty expensive and you as a jeweler will not only get some discounts on the materials that are needed to make nice things, but you can also offer your own work at a rather low rate or even for free to your favorite people and this means that your family and friends can save lots of money on fancy jewelry.

You will also be able to give nice presents to your loved ones for birthdays and other important occasions.

Jewelers don’t have to work on weekends

Most jewelers also don’t have to work on weekends. While you might take this for granted, there are still many people out there who have to work on Saturdays or even Sundays.

For instance, waiters and train drivers will often have to work during those days and while those people will have to do their duty to keep our system running, you will be able to take some nice time off and enjoy it with your favorite people.

You can also make nice trips to explore many different cities and I am sure you will know how to spend your weekends with more enjoyable things other than just working.

You will not have to work many hours as a goldsmith or jeweler

Another upside to a jeweler career is that you will also not have to work much overtime. Quite often, you will come home from work relatively early and barely any jeweler will have to work more than 40 hours per week.

Sure, if you have your own jewelry business, you might have to work more since you would have to do many organizational tasks.

However, as a normal employee, you will not have to deal with these issues that much and will have more than enough leisure.

In fact, many jewelers report a pretty decent work-life balance and are more than happy with the amount of leisure they have each week on average.

You can make our lives more sustainable

Since your work will not only consist of making new jewelry but you will also have to repair many things, you can make our lives much more sustainable since we can reuse precious jewelry instead of just disposing of them or melting them down, which would often cost much more energy.

Hence, jewelers and goldsmiths also do an important job when it comes to an environmental perspective.

Jewelers work with nice things all day long

Since you will work with nice things all day long, chances are that your overall mood will also be pretty good at work.

Moreover, you will also see some fancy jewelry you have never seen before and you will often be pretty impressed by the art pieces that clients present to you.

In turn, most goldsmiths never get bored with what they are doing and rather look forward to every new day since they will never know what to expect at work.

You can avoid office work

Working as a jeweler can also be great for you in case you don’t want to work in a regular office job where you have to work with a computer all day long.

As a goldsmith, you will be able to work with your hands and this also gives you some exercise.

In turn, your chances for obesity and unpleasant related consequences will be lower compared to the average office person and there will often also not be the need to go to the gym after work.

Jewelers see results quickly

As a goldsmith, you will also be able to see the fruits of your labor in a rather short period of time.

Quite often, you will be able to fix things within a few hours or even minutes.

Also when you create new jewelry, you will be done with it within a few workdays pretty often.

In turn, it will not take you long to results from your work and this may keep you motivated while many other people who work in classical office jobs will work on projects for many months without seeing any real results and may get frustrated with what they are doing pretty soon.

Working as a jeweler is not that stressful

Another advantage of becoming a goldsmith is that your work will just not be that stressful.

Sure, you will have times when clients can be annoying and you will have to do many jobs in a rather short period of time.

However, compared to many other jobs, you will still have a rather relaxed life and will also often have the time to take some breaks during work.

You will not have to work in a hard physical manner

While working as a jeweler implies a physical component since you will need to repair and create new jewelry, you will still not have to lift heavy physical things and this means that you will also not have to stress your body as much as welders or construction workers.

In turn, you will have more energy when you come home from work and also your risk of suffering from spinal issues will be much lower.

You don’t need a college degree for working as a goldsmith

Many people also decide for a career as a goldsmith since they will not need a college degree for working in this field.

Instead, you can start your jewelry career right after finishing high school and while many of your friends will go to college and spend many years on this type of education, you will be able to get some working experience at a rather young age.

You don’t have to take on student loan debt

Since there will be no need to go to college, you will also not have to take on any student loans.

In turn, while many of your friends will struggle to pay those loans back in the future, you will not be financially stressed in this regard.

Jewelers can become independent of their parents rather easily

Since you can start making money right after finishing school, you will also be able to become independent of your parents rather soon in your life.

This can be important, especially if you don’t have a good relationship with them and want to leave their house as soon as possible.

You can make money on the side

If you are really good at what you are doing, you can also make good money on the side as a goldsmith. In fact, you can work on side projects after finishing your regular day job.

Moreover, you can also start your own digital channels and explain to people how they can fix their jewelry themselves.

In turn, you might be able to build a huge audience and to monetize this audience later on.

As you can see, there are definitely some benefits to a jewelry career.

However, you should also not forget to also take into account all the negative things that come along with it and I will therefore also show you the downsides of being a jeweler in the following chapter.

Disadvantages of Being a Jeweler

1. Jewelers don’t make good money
2. Many goldsmiths need a second job to pay their bills
3. You will often not be able to save and invest enough money
4. You will often not be able to afford the nice things you make at work
5. Rather low level of job security
6. Hard to plan your life as a goldsmith
7. Banks may not grant you a mortgage
8. You may not be able to afford the best medical treatment
9. You will not learn many hard skills
10. Problematic in case you want to switch industries
11. You need a certain level of talent to succeed as a goldsmith
12. Your jewelry shop may get robbed
13. Limited promotion options for jewelers
14. You may get bored of it in the long run
15. Clients can be demanding

Jewelers don’t make good money

One problem with being a jeweler is that you will just not make good money.

In fact, many jewelers complain about their rather low salary and if money and luxury are really important to you, you should definitely not become a jeweler but rather strive for a career in the medical field or as an investment banker instead.

Many goldsmiths need a second job to pay their bills

If you live in rather expensive regions, you might not even be able to pay your bills from your day job as a jeweler.

In fact, many jewelers even need a second job to afford rent and other basic expenses in those regions and having a second job can be really annoying since you would barely have any leisure.

You will often not be able to save and invest enough money

Becoming a jeweler can also be problematic since you will just not be able to save and invest enough money for retirement.

In turn, you may suffer from serious old-age poverty and may just no longer be able to pay your bills once you retire from your active career.

You will often not be able to afford the nice things you make at work

While you will make nice jewelry for your clients, you will never be able to afford those nice things yourself.

In turn, you may get quite frustrated in the long run since you will always be surrounded by nice jewelry but know that you will never be able to afford and wear those things yourself and you may therefore feel depressed and sad in the long run.

Rather low level of job security

Another downside to working as a jeweler is that you will also have a rather low level of job security.

In fact, since you will not need a college degree, many people will be able to apply for work in this field and if you don’t have any special skills, chances are that you will be replaced by someone who will be able to do similar work at a lower price sooner or later.

Hard to plan your life as a goldsmith

Since you will not make much money and will also not have high levels of job security, you will also have a hard time planning your life as a goldsmith.

In fact, you will have to deal with a constant high level of insecurity regarding how your life will look like just a few years from now and this may also lead to serious mental problems in the long run.

Banks may not grant you a mortgage

Due to your relatively low salary and the rather low job security you will have as a jeweler, you might also have problems getting a loan for buying a home since banks will often not have enough trust in you that you pay back your mortgage in a reliable manner.

Consequently, you may have to rent forever and may not be able to fulfill your dream of owning your own home.

You may not be able to afford the best medical treatment

Since you will not make good money as a goldsmith, you may also not be able to afford the best medical treatment.

While you may be covered by health insurance to some extent, fancy medical treatment will still be reserved for people who can spend more additional money on those things.

You will not learn many hard skills

Another disadvantage of becoming a goldsmith is that you will also not learn many hard skills during your career.

In fact, you will lack many digital skills and will not learn how to use a computer in a proper manner.

Problematic in case you want to switch industries

Due to your lack of digital skills, you might also run into serious problems since you will often find nobody who wants to employ you outside of the jewelry industry.

In turn, you might get stuck in this industry for quite a long time and you should therefore make sure that this is what you really want to do for a living for many years to come before you decide for becoming a goldsmith.

You need a certain level of talent to succeed as a goldsmith

You should also have a certain level of talent and should also be a creative person before you decide for a career as a goldsmith.

Otherwise, you will likely not succeed in this industry since your clients will not be happy with your work at all.

Your jewelry shop may get robbed

After making jewelry, you will also have to sell it in a store.

However, since jewelry is quite expensive, the risk of robberies will be pretty high and you might even get physically harmed in the long run if you are unlucky.

Limited promotion options for jewelers

Jewelers also have rather limited promotion options. In fact, you will do the same work for decades without any hope to climb the corporate ladder.

Quite often, your salary will also stay relatively low and also your chances for raises will be rather limited as well.

You may get bored of it in the long run

You should also make sure that you have a real passion for working as a jeweler.

Otherwise, you might get bored with what you are doing and this can be really problematic since you will also have a pretty hard time getting out of this industry.

Clients can be demanding

Last but not least, also your clients can be really demanding and difficult.

Some people just can’t be happy and you will have to deal with these sorts of people from time to time.

Consequently, make sure that the comments of your clients will not bother you and that you are mentally strong enough to ignore those snarky remarks.

Top 10 Being a Jeweler Pros & Cons – Summary List

Should You Become A Jeweler?

Now that you know all the advantages and disadvantages of being a jeweler, it is time for you to take an honest look in the mirror and ask yourself whether a jeweler career will be right for you or if you rather want to go for a different career instead.

If you are still interested in becoming a jeweler, you should also get detailed information about the salary, future outlook, working hours, work-life balance, duties, educational requirements and job satisfaction of jewelers.

Also make sure to check out the following articles to get more information on other job options:

Advantages and disadvantages of being a graphic designer

Advantages and disadvantages of being an architect

Advantages and disadvantages of being an engineer

Sources

https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/accessories/watches-jewelry/jewelry/united-states

https://www.statista.com/statistics/197698/annual-jewelry-store-sales-in-the-us-since-1992/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_jeweler

Own research and interviews.

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world. In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics. However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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