It goes without saying that we love our industry and the many opportunities it provides. However, it’s normal to want to shake things up and expand your horizons. Are you sick of sales?
1/4 Jennifer Rowlands
Tired of sitting at the bench? If you’re looking to diversify your skill set, here are some ideas of outside-the-box industry jobs. This month, JW Magazine is helping you discover the next direction of your career in the industry we all love.
The sparkling allure of diamonds motivated a young Kym Hughes to the jewellery world.
2/4 Kym Hughes
“I started in the industry back as a work experience from year 10 high school and I thought the job of a diamond sorter sounded very interesting – not the usual run of the mill job on offer at the time.”
Wanting a break from the dull and typical work experience suggestions, Kym made some phone calls until a chance opportunity was offered to work as a diamond sorter. Today Kym works as an NCJV registered valuer, running her own business.
“I love it when people have inherited jewellery and had no idea what great aunty had and I get to tell them that it is something quite fabulous,” Kym says.
Enamellar Debbie Sheezel fell into her role purely by accident but now her passion stems from appreciation and enjoyment of her commissioned pieces. Debbie says her role in the trade is about bringing colour to enhance the metal of jewellery.
3/4 Debbie Sheezel, Lineal Alchemy
“Even though coloured stones are used to add colour at present, the imagery of fine enamel on metal by Lalique, Faberge and the like is still highly sought after,” Debbie says.
Along with her specialised, hands on work, Debbie is also a teacher at RMIT and runs enamel workshops.
Nicolette Jones, co-founder of sustainable packaging brand Give Packaging, had her ‘ah-ha!’ moment in the middle of a significant
personal event.
“GIVE was founded the moment Mahon (my husband) proposed to me! It was such a special moment as you can imagine, but the one thing
that detracted from it was the first impression of the ring box,” Nicollette says.
Returning to the jeweller to propose the idea of designing a better box, Mahon, a carpenter by trade, made a prototype out of timber which was well received by the jeweller and customers alike. Born from this idea was sustainable jewellery packaging company, Give Packaging.
4/4 GivePackaging
Creative director, jewellery designer and owner of Refinery Row, Jennifer Rowlands started her career on the jewellery bench which led to further
opportunities in retail, manufacturing/production coordinating and design. Jennifer was exposed to aspects of the industry early and attributes her initial interest to a class she took in high school.
“I got into the jewellery industry after stumbling into a metal work class in high school. I finished my tech drawing unit and was allowed to explore other classes and decided on metal work,” Jennifer says. “Having experience in more than one aspect of the industry has allowed me to have a good understanding when it came to starting my own design business and all processes involved in creating jewellery.”
The broad range of diverse roles and the addition of new technologies to the industry mean that once you are in, you will never get bored. If you’re looking to step sideways in our great industry, explore our top ten unique industry jobs for inspiration on your next move.
Read below for related stories: