How do they match: Gem and Diamond Workers

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

  • Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items.
  • 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.
  • Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
  • Identify and document stones' clarity characteristics, using plot diagrams.
  • Lap girdles on rough diamonds, using diamond girdling lathes.
  • Locate and mark drilling or cutting positions on stones or dies, using diamond chips and power hand tools.
  • Measure sizes of stones' bore holes and cuts to ensure adherence to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
  • Place stones in clamps on polishing machines and polish facets of stones, using felt-covered or canvas-covered polishing wheels and polishing compounds such as tripoli and rouge.
  • Secure stones in metal mountings, using solder.
  • Split gems along pre-marked lines to remove imperfections, using blades and jewelers' hammers.

  • Draw guide lines or markings on materials or workpieces using patterns or other references.