Diamond and jewelry industry has touched the sky. With a turnover of more than Rs. 60,000 crores, India's jewelry trade in booming and all the time calling for trained personnel to work here. As a jewelry professional, one can use his creativity to just make anything and the intelligence to sell it. Even the sky rocketing gold prices have not affected this business. In fact when the crude oil and gold prices started their alarming ascent northwards, people feared that this would affect the gold business drastically. However, that has not been the case as is evident that people still buy jewelry, and in fact more than before.

Many times, I have come across people asking questions like, "Is there any career opportunity as a "jewelry designer". My answer to this would be a firm "YES!" And I don't feel there would be any other field where the career opportunities would be so exciting and enticing.

Jewelry designers have the choice of working with jewelry stores or big export corporate houses. Multinationals are also on the look out for young talented designers all the time, willing to pay any price for the creativity and art. After getting little experience jewelry designers who believe they have entrepreneurship skills in them may also go in to start their own business. In this scenario, however, investment and contacts play a key role to achieve success. If not business, designers can also sell their designs for a fee and not get bounded by any job or business. In other words, the opportunities are unlimited.

Dos and Don'ts

1) Whenever a student joins a jewelry design school, the first thing to hit his/her mind is this - "Is art important in learning jewelry designing?" and to get more students you will definitely get the answer from jewelry schools that,"any one can become a designer and no prior back ground is required".

But let me assure you one thing, if you don't have the talent or that creative inclination in you then you are going to have a very tough time to cope up with classes and I am not exaggerating here. To become a successful designer you need to have that creativity, art and sense of design. Precision and attention to details are also very important. Also the hard work involved is very much. If you are determined and willing to put in that extra effort then there is no looking back.

2) Most importantly, let's address the basic issue - To learn designing first or learn jewelry manufacturing first? If you say designing, then my friends I am afraid you are terribly mistaken! Because it's like learning to run before learning to walk. In order to design jewelry, you need to know a million things about the material you would be working on, about the feel of the metal, about its joints, hinges, polish and lots more.All these things are very important to know before you learn designing. Jewelry designing, unlike painting, requires some basics and guidelines to be followed, which can be learnt best only with practical knowledge and not just theory.

3) When you are choosing a jewelry designing school, check out the faculty before joining it. Don't just join any institute. Learn your basics, Do your homework and then take the interview of the faculty rather than them choosing you. You are paying money and should get back every penny's worth you are putting in. I can tell from my personal experience that most designing schools do not even teach the basics properly.

4) Always keep updated with the trends in the fashion industry. After all, we survive on what's in vogue and that's our bread and butter. Designers should always know what the current trend is, what's in, what's not and what's cool, what's hot! Visit trade shows, exhibitions, fairs and whatever possible. Check out the jewelry of celebrities. Read books, surf the net. Do whatever possible to stay updated on latest fads. Trade shows give you lots of experience and confidence than one can imagine.

Finally the money, which everyone's interested in. As a trainee one can expect a starting pay of Rs. 4000 - Rs. 5000 per month in small showrooms and up to Rs.10, 000 in big multinational organizations. Talent, nevertheless, is imperative to demand or deserve these. You can always improve your skills and capabilities with your perseverance, hard work and experience. After some years the pay scale can jump easily up to Rs. 25,000 per month.

Remember along with jewelry designing if you also know gemology, diamond grading or jewelry manufacturing then double the above estimates. Designing degree along with gemologist or certified gemologist degree can work wonders to your career. So it's very important to know the whole jewelry industry on the whole rather than just knowing it in bits and pieces.

Mithun Rao, a jewelry designer, holds degree in gemology and jewelry design from Mumbai and has spent 10 years in the industry (incuding running his own jewelry shop). With an obsession for gems and precious stones, he also shares a passion for music, painting and wishes to explore new places, and understand new cultures. See the list of jewelry designing schools here.