goldsmith
Goldsmiths design, manufacture and sell jewellery. They also adjust, repair and appraise gems and jewellery for customers using experience in the working of gold and other precious metals.
goldsmith goldsmiths design, manufacture and sell jewellery. They also adjust, repair and appraise gems and jewellery for customers using experience in the working of gold and other precious metals. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include metal and metal ore products, characteristics of precious metals, jewellery processes, use jewellery equipment, pour molten metal into moulds.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £29,340 a year for Other skilled trades n.e.c. (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 5449). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Craft and related trades workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only goldsmith, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 7. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- Production and Processing
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Sales and Marketing
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Economics and Accounting
What you'd actually do
- Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
- Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems.
- 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.
- Identify and document stones' clarity characteristics, using plot diagrams.
- Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does goldsmith do?
Goldsmiths design, manufacture and sell jewellery. They also adjust, repair and appraise gems and jewellery for customers using experience in the working of gold and other precious metals.
What skills does goldsmith need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include metal and metal ore products, characteristics of precious metals, jewellery processes, use jewellery equipment, pour molten metal into moulds, cast jewellery metal. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace goldsmith?
Our AI-durability model gives goldsmith a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.