Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Gem and Diamond Workers
Occupation · SOC 51-9071.06
Fabricate, finish, or evaluate the quality of gems and diamonds used in jewelry or industrial tools.
Also called: Diamond Cutter · Diamond Setter · Gemologist · Lapidarist · Diamond Grader · Diamond Picker · Diamond Polisher · Diamond Sawer · Facetor · Brilliandeer · Brilliandeer Lopper · Clarity Expert
Job family: Production Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-51-9071-06/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- Declining employment outlook (-5.5% by 2034)
- 4,000 openings/yr
- Moderate AI exposure
- Median pay $49,140/yr
- Can largely be done remotely (teleworkable)
- 2013 flagged this for computerization (89th); today's AI task-overlap is comparatively low (39th)
39th-percentile task overlap — yet about 4,000 openings a year (-5.5% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Moderate | 45th | -0.2 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Moderate | 42nd | 0.5 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Moderate | 35th | 0.1 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.2), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.5). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
Most of this job's tasks can be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman), which tends to track with higher digital and AI exposure.
Mixed signals. Today's AI/LLM studies show relatively low exposure for this job, but the older (2013) Frey–Osborne work rated it higher for computerization and robotics. Different eras, different technologies — the AI measures above reflect the current state.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.9 · 89th percentile among occupations · High
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Declining · -5.5% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 4,000 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 35,100 → 33,200 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Gem and Diamond Workers sits at the 26th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure rose from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
18% mean task exposure (2025)
26th percentile of 427 placed occupations
+3 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Jewellery and Precious Metal Workers · 7313 | 18% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 22 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs. Core · importance 4.7
- Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems. Core · importance 4.6
- Examine diamonds or gems to ascertain the shape, cut, and width of cut stones, or to select the cuts that will result in the biggest, best quality stones. Supplemental · importance 4.5
- Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors. Core · importance 4.4
- Immerse stones in prescribed chemical solutions to determine specific gravities and key properties of gemstones or substitutes. Supplemental · importance 4.4
- Hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them. Supplemental · importance 4.3
- Sort rough diamonds into categories based on shape, size, color, and quality. Supplemental · importance 4.3
- 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. Core · importance 4.3
- Identify and document stones' clarity characteristics, using plot diagrams. Core · importance 4.3
- Secure gems or diamonds in holders, chucks, dops, lapidary sticks, or blocks for cutting, polishing, grinding, drilling, or shaping. Supplemental · importance 4.3
- Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items. Core · importance 3.9
- Measure sizes of stones' bore holes and cuts to ensure adherence to specifications, using precision measuring instruments. Supplemental · importance 3.7
- Select shaping wheels for tasks, and mix and apply abrasives, bort, or polishing compounds. Supplemental · importance 3.6
- Dismantle lapping, boring, cutting, polishing, and shaping equipment and machinery to clean and lubricate it. Supplemental · importance 3.2
- Lap girdles on rough diamonds, using diamond girdling lathes. Supplemental
- Locate and mark drilling or cutting positions on stones or dies, using diamond chips and power hand tools. Supplemental
- Place stones in clamps on polishing machines and polish facets of stones, using felt-covered or canvas-covered polishing wheels and polishing compounds such as tripoli and rouge. Supplemental
- Regrind drill points, and advance drill cutting points according to specifications for channel depths and shapes. Supplemental
- Regulate the speed of revolutions and reciprocating actions of drilling mechanisms. Supplemental
- Replace, true, and sharpen blades, drills, and plates. Supplemental
- Secure stones in metal mountings, using solder. Supplemental
- Split gems along pre-marked lines to remove imperfections, using blades and jewelers' hammers. Supplemental
Work activities
- Examine physical characteristics of gemstones or precious metals.
- Evaluate quality of materials or products.
- Determine the value of goods or services.
- Record operational or production data.
- Advise others on ways to improve processes or products.
- Maneuver workpieces in equipment during production.
- Operate grinding equipment.
- Sort materials or products for processing, storing, shipping, or grading.
- Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment.
- Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.
- Select production equipment according to product specifications.
- Mix substances to create chemical solutions.
- Apply solutions to production equipment.
- Disassemble equipment for maintenance or repair.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Abilities
| Near Vision | 4.1 | |
| Finger Dexterity | 3.6 | |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 3.5 | |
| Visual Color Discrimination | 3.4 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.3 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.1 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.1 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 3.1 | |
| Manual Dexterity | 3.1 | |
| Control Precision | 3.1 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.0 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.0 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.0 | |
| Visualization | 3.0 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.0 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.0 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.0 | |
| Written Comprehension | 2.9 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 2.9 | |
| Number Facility | 2.9 | |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 2.8 | |
| Perceptual Speed | 2.8 |
Knowledge
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.6 | |
| Production and Processing | 3.2 | |
| English Language | 3.0 | |
| Mathematics | 3.0 | |
| Sales and Marketing | 3.0 | |
| Administration and Management | 2.8 |
Transferable skills
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.4 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 2.9 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 2.8 | |
| Service Orientation | 2.8 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 2.8 | |
| Operations Monitoring | 2.8 |
Essential skills
| Active Listening | 3.1 | |
| Speaking | 3.1 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.0 | |
| Monitoring | 3.0 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 2.9 | |
| Mathematics | 2.8 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Tools & technology
| Example | Category | |
|---|---|---|
| Business accounting software | Accounting software | |
| Gem identification databases | Data base user interface and query software | |
| GemCad | Computer aided design CAD software | |
| Inventory tracking software | Inventory management software | |
| Jewelry design software | Computer aided design CAD software | |
| Spectrophotometer analysis software | Analytical or scientific software | |
| Web browser software | Internet browser software |
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
- Typical entry-level education
- High school diploma or equivalent · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
- Preparation level
- SVP (6.0 to < 7.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians , Visual and Performing Arts . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| High School Diploma | 57.9% | |
| Bachelor's Degree | 19.0% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 15.2% | |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 8.0% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 5.5 | |
| Conventional | 4.1 | |
| Investigative | 3.1 | |
| Artistic | 2.9 | |
| Enterprising | 2.1 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 4.0 | |
| Attention to Detail | 3.0 | |
| Cautiousness | 2.5 | |
| Integrity | 2.3 |
Interest areas
| Physical Science | 2.3 | |
| Engineering | 2.0 | |
| Mathematics/Statistics | 2.0 | |
| Physical/Manual Labor | 2.0 | |
| Applied Arts and Design | 1.8 | |
| Accounting | 1.8 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 1.8 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $33,890 |
| 25th percentile | $38,030 |
| Median (50th) | $49,140 |
| 75th percentile | $63,210 |
| 90th percentile | $81,610 |
| People employed | 23,420 |
Wages and employment are reported by BLS for the broader occupation group this specialty belongs to (SOC 51-9071), not for the specialty alone.
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Trade · Sector | 12,050 | $50,340 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 6,180 | $46,180 |
| Jewelry and Silverware Manufacturing · National industry | 6,000 | $46,130 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 2,780 | $58,120 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 1,030 | $48,250 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 420 | $70,410 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 410 | $62,640 |
| Finance and Insurance · Sector | 190 | $50,870 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 40 | $36,520 |
| Health Care and Social Assistance · Sector | — | $55,370 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Jewelry and Silverware Manufacturing · National industry | 1982.99× | 6,000 |
| Retail Trade · Sector | 5.09× | 12,050 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 3.19× | 6,180 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 3.03× | 2,780 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 1.53× | 1,030 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 0.98× | 420 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 0.25× | 410 |
| Finance and Insurance · Sector | 0.2× | 190 |
Related occupations
Part of the Advanced Manufacturing career cluster.
- Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers · 51-9071.00 Compare →
- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand · 51-9022.00 Compare →
- Etchers and Engravers · 51-9194.00 Compare →
- Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners · 51-4194.00 Compare →
- Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing · 51-9195.03 Compare →
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · 51-4033.00 Compare →
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders · 51-9032.00 Compare →
- Cutters and Trimmers, Hand · 51-9031.00 Compare →
- Tool and Die Makers · 51-4111.00 Compare →
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic · 51-9195.00 Compare →
- Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians · 51-9083.00 Compare →
- Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders · 51-6042.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Gem and Diamond Workers — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- High school diploma or equivalent · typical entry level
- Job zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians · field of study
- Visual and Performing Arts · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 26th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Gem and Diamond Workers show 39th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 4,000 annual U.S. openings
- Gem and Diamond Workers rank in the 39th percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 4,000 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be declining (-5.5%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $49,140, across about 23,420 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Gem and Diamond Workers show 39th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 4,000 annual U.S. openings • Gem and Diamond Workers rank in the 39th percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 4,000 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be declining (-5.5%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $49,140, across about 23,420 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Gem and Diamond Workers". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-9071-06 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Gem and Diamond Workers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-9071-06
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Gem and Diamond Workers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-9071-06
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-51-9071-06,
title = {Gem and Diamond Workers},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-51-9071-06}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.