Gemologists are detail-orientated professionals who inspect, grade, and appraise gems. To enter into a gemological career, students must first obtain their graduate gemologist certificate from an accredited institution. A graduate gemologist is presented with a wide array of gemologist jobs that can take him from the mine to an auction house. Gemologist jobs can be found in appraising gems and jewelry, mining, jewelry designing, and other fields.
With the increase of artificial stones on the market, a gemologist must be able to discern which stones are real and which are artificial. This task is further complicated as he also must be able to tell if the stone has been color treated. In some cases, stones have also had their cracks, or fractures, filled so that they appear to the naked eye to be flawless—thereby seeming to increase their value. For these reasons, gemologist jobs as an appraiser with a jewelry store, auction house, or as an independent contractor are very important. An appraiser can give a customer written documentation of the value of a piece and its unique characteristics for identification, insurance, and resale purposes.
Gemologists are often employed in the mining and manufacturing process. They are better able to assess the quality of the raw stones found and determine which stones would benefit from a particular cut. The stones also need to be graded before they are sold to a wholesaler in order to calculate how much they are worth on the market. To take part in the manufacturing process, a gemologist has to be specifically trained for certain specialized gemologist jobs, such as gem grinder, gem polisher, jewel setter, and jewel engraver. The gems or finished pieces of jewelry are bought by a wholesaler who will sell them to a retail store.
Some manufacturers employ a gemologist as a jewelry designer or as an aid to a jewelry designer. They are also hired to buy diamonds or colored stones and very often you have gemologists who specialize in one or the other. A gemologist can find a career in a jewelry store as a sales associate, jewelry buyer, appraiser, or manager.
Gemologists can also find gemologist jobs in academia as teachers, jewelry historians, or lab technicians. In a laboratory, gems that are sent by a customer or a jewelry store can be thoroughly analyzed and graded. The laboratory will then issue a statement of their findings to the customer. Research laboratories also study how stones color can be altered and how fissures are filled.