Jewellery design is the art of conceptualizing, designing and creating jewellery using varied materials like gold, silver, precious and artificial stones etc. It involves the use of creative talent along with hands-on crafting capability. Jewellery Designer should ensure that the design he is working on is viable in terms of both makings as well as wearing.
Skills required:
- Creative bent of mind to visualize unique designs that will be desirable in the market
- Capability and patience to work with tools and different materials
- Comfortable in use of CAD and other computer drawing software
- Attention to detail
- Time Management skills to adhere to timelines along with the capability to work long hours to meet deadlines
- Excellent communication skills to market your designs, dealing with clients and vendors
- Passion to come up with innovative designs
Responsibilities
- Understand the client’s requirements and share concepts and unique designs with him accordingly
- Using CAD, Present your ideas, visualizations and designs to the client for his approval
- Mounting: Creating a framework for jewellery to facilitate mounting of selected gems (stones) through forming and drilling of metals.
- Model making (casting): Using a mould to create decorative detail
- Stamping and presswork
- Making patterns on the metal surface
- Soldering and fabrication
- Polishing to ensure a proper finish.
- Electro-plating to layer a precious metal onto a base metal
- Enamelling to fuse powdered glass to metal to create coloured patterns. Enamelling is done in a kiln
- Welding to join pieces of metal
- Engraving
- Networking
- Participating and attending competitions and craft fairs.
- Researching jewellery and fashion trends
Industry Outlook:
- As of Feb 2021, contribution to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by gold and diamond trade stood at 7.5%. Besides this, India’s total merchandise exports gained 14% from the gold and diamond trade during the same period.
- In 2020, the Gem and Jewellery sector employed 5 million people. This is estimated to grow to 8.23 million people by 2022.
- In FY 21, India exported US$ 25.30 billion worth of gems & jewellery.
- In FY21, India imported US$ 16.49 billion worth of gems & jewellery.
- As per the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), between April 2000 and March 2021, Cumulative FDI inflows in India stood at US$ 1,190.83 million in diamond and gold ornaments
Thus, presenting immense employment opportunities for people associated with this sector.
Jewellery Design Courses
In order to take advantage of the huge opportunities, students should consider pursuing Jewellery Design courses for graduation after completing their class 12th. While choosing the course, they should keep in mind the following:
- While the course should specialize in Jewellery Design, it should provide comprehensive knowledge about both wearable and non-wearable accessory designs.
- The campus must have a well-equipped studio with full-time technicians to facilitate student work/projects besides mechanical and digital fabrication.
- College must offer competencies in working with both contemporary and traditional crafts and techniques besides knowledge about different materials, processes and technologies.
- College must also offer an insight into global trends, aesthetics, tastes and styles.
- Students must get exposure through study trips, field research, industry visits, interaction with industry experts
- College must help a student develop a portfolio by participating in live projects and competitions.
Don’t hold back and express yourself through designs that may tomorrow be setting trends worldwide.
