A few decades back, jewellery designing was a tradition that passed on from one generation to another in the families of goldsmiths. But in the current era, where professionalism is taking an edge over traditional skills, creative minds from all walks of life are making a career in jewellery designing. Today, this is one of the most sought-after career options for youth in India and abroad. Many Government and private institutes are offering certificates as well as diploma courses in jewellery designing and as the sector is experiencing a tremendous growth, placement for these budding designers is no more a big challenge.
Since time immemorial, India is known as the global hub for diamonds, solitaires and jewellery and liberalisation of the economy has opened many new growth vistas for the sector.
Increased disposable income, India’s improved purchasing power parity ranking, liberalisation of the economy, rapid urbanisation, increased inflow of the FDI, entry of global brands and the rising share of gems and jewellery sector in country’s total export contributed impressively in the exceptional demand for jewellery designers in the domestic market.
India is world’s second largest gold consumer after China and third largest diamond consumer after the US and Japan. In addition, there is a huge market of semi-precious and imitation jewellery. The semi-precious jewellery, which is a relatively new category is further fostering the growth of the sector and leveraging the demand for professional designers.
If one is creative and can create an impression with designs, colours and shapes, then a course in jewellery designing would be definitely imperative to exhibit one’s potential skills. The art of jewellery designing is quite a challenging task. Besides creative skills, one should have good knowledge about the physical and chemical properties of precious metals such as gold, platinum and silver, good knowledge about various types of diamonds, gemstones, sapphires and pearls.
Taste and preferences of the target audience, sound knowledge about the culture and festivals of a particular area also influence the style of a jewellery designer. In this digital age where the effective use of computers and design software are helping terrifically to deliver quality results.
Computer-aided design (CAD) software used by jewellery manufacturing firms in order to facilitate product design not only allows the designer to create a virtual-reality model of a piece of jewellery, but he/ she can also modify and observe the changes on a computer screen before fixing precious stones or making a cut in the ensemble.
Once the preliminary changes and settings have been made a mould of the prepared model is produced in a wax or other like material with the help of computer aided manufacturing (CAM) process.
CAM helps in the easier manufacturing of numerous pieces of the same design.
A familiarity with CAD, CAM and other design software enhance one’s employability chances in the job market.
Jewellery designing is a demanding career and one needs to merge imaginations with illustration skills to make a great start in this highly dynamic industry.
Where to study
Courses from a reputed college increases one’s job prospects. A bachelor degree can make your entry quite easy in the jewellery industry and if you are a postgraduate then you can also avail speedy promotions and a handsome package just after an experience of one year or more. Some institutes that offer short term and long term courses in jewellery designing are—
· National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi,
· National Institute of Design (NID), Delhi
· Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Jaipur,
· Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Mumbai,
· Indian Institute of Jewellery, Mumbai
· Jewellery Design and Technology Institute, Noida
Those who want to acquire international exposure and a degree from foreign institutes can invest in the —
· University of Kansas
· Rochester Institute of Technology
· China Academy of Art
· Gemological Institute of America
Job prospects
After successful completion of the designing programme one can apply in the public as well as private sector. Jewellery designing houses, fashion houses, designer boutiques, jewellery retail chains and online jewellery boutiques are some of the best places to start the career.
If you don’t want to restrict yourself with a single brand, then working as a freelance designer is another enchanting option for young designers in this his evolving industry. To sum up jewellery industry is a wonderful choice if you have a creative fervour to deliver designs that may be the part of future’s vogue.
So aspirants have all reasons to smile as the industry is embedded with ample employment opportunities.
(The writer is designer & director, Dillano - luxurious Jewels ltd)