Jewelry design is the art or professional of creating, crafting, fabricating, or rendering designs for jewelry. This is an ancient practice of the goldsmith or metalworker that evolved to a billion-dollar industry with the odyssey from ancient cultures into the machine age. Jewelry design falls under the category of what is commonly known as "functional art", being art that can be worn or used.
Before an article of jewelry is created, it is typically rendered by a jewelry designer, a professional who is trained in the architectural and functional knowledge of not only metallurgy but also design elements such as composition and wearability.
Once the article is rendered, the design is then constructed using the necessary materials for proper adaptation to the function of the object. For example, 24K Gold was used in ancient jewelry design because it was more accessible than silver as source material. Before the 1st century many civilizations also incorporated beads into jewelry. Once the discovery of gemstones and gem cutting became more readily available, 2. the art of jewelry ornamentation and design shifted. The earliest documented gemstone cut was done by Theophilus Presbyter (c.1070 - 1125). who practiced and developed many applied arts and was a known goldsmith. Later, during the 14th Century, medieval lapidary technology evolved to include cabochons and cameos.
Early Jewelry design commissions were often constituted by nobility or the church to honor an event or as wearable ornamentation. Within the structure of early methods, enameling and repoussé became standard methods for creating ornamental wares to demonstrate wealth, position, or power. These early techniques created a specific complex design element that later would forge the baroque movement in jewelry design.
Jewellery Designing
ON THE back of a sizzling growth of the organised jewellery industry, striking job openings and exciting entry-level salaries, many specialised institutes catering to the industry have mushroomed in the recent past. It's a fine era to consider jewellery designing as a career preference.
India is the largest gems and jewellery market in the world (the domestic market is Rs 63,000 crore), but largely in the unorganised sector with a significant focus on gold. With the entry of big players like Tanishq, Swarovski, DeBeers, D'- damas, the shifting thrust on gems and stones rather than pure gold is giving a big push to the organised gems and jewellery industry.
Your grandma's old jewellery may be treasured and pricey heirlooms, but they simply do not hold a candle to the existing styles being worn. Jewellery these days is exclusive and contemporary. "People are very image cognizant. They don't want jewellery as a representation of financial security but to make a fashion statement and also as trends wear that suits different occasions."
* Getting Started
Previously, the single way to learn this skill was to be an apprentice to an experienced jeweler. But these days, one can take up a diploma course in jewellery design after school. Numerous institutes, all over India, present diploma courses in jewellery designing. A student has to pass an aptitude test and interview before qualifying for the course. One could be from any field. But an art background does help in the long run.
The course gives you essential information on the diverse kinds of stones, colour schemes in jewellery, design themes, presentation and framing, designing individual jewellery pieces, men's jewellery, costume jewellery, jewellery costing, etc. But to a professional in designing jewellery does not need formal training. A professional in any other field can take up jewellery designing workshops and set up a business production house.
* Opportunities
One can work in any of the following sectors:
o Jewellery designing house
o Export house
o Fashion house
o Self-employment
o Freelance designing
If you join an export house, you can see your new designs in the international market. Most of the students start their own business by setting up a production house.
As a freelance designer your job is to draw a design according to the specifications of the jewelers' house. You also need to direct the manufacturing of the jewellery by the craftsman of the jewellery house.
* What it takes?
o There are no specific personality traits for jewellery designers. One can learn everything while getting trained. However, you just need a passion for the profession; otherwise there is no way one can learn.
o A sense of design is imperative. Precision and attention to detail are also equally important for a successful jeweller. One should be very creative, imaginative and technically sound.
o It's also important to have a working knowledge about manufacturing.
o One should be well-versed with the fashion industry on the international front too.
* The Job
o Jewellery designers prepare sketches - by hand or on the computer - to conceptualise the design. After consulting with the customer or the manufacturing team, designers fashion detail drawings, a structural model, computer simulations, or a full-scale prototype.
o Computer models allow superior effortlessness and flexibility in exploring a number of design alternatives, thus reducing design costs and cutting the time it takes to deliver a product to market.
o Designs are created on regular or floral patterns and then generate forms by connecting different structures together. The range of raw materials is exhaustive - from economical and easily available stuff like paper, wood, terracotta, jute, to highly priced Swarovski crystals!
* Where to study?
o NIFT Campus, opposite Gulmohar Park, Hauz Khas, New Delhi.
o Srimati Nathibai Damodar Training (SNDT) Women's University, Mumbai.
o Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Rajasthan Bhavan, Jaipur.
o Jewellery Export Promotion Council, D-15 Commerce Centre, Tardeo, Mumbai.
o Indian Institute of Jewellery, Modern Centre, 101, Sane Guruji Marg, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai.
o Jewellery Design and Technology Institute (JDTI), Noida.
o South Delhi Polytechnic for Women, Lajpat Nagar IV, New Delhi.
o St. Xavier's College, Geology Department, Mumbai.
o Small Industries Service Institute, Chennai.
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