Anybody know about working in a Jewelry store?

It's not that easy. I have a local jeweler that I patronize (the minute I mention that I have my own jeweler, people go mad with derision). It's where I go when I need watch batteries replaced. I've sent clocks there to be repaired, which isn't alway a quick process. There are very few clock-makers in town who can repair a wind-up clock. The people I know at my local jeweler are very much professional people, who can discuss the sale of a Lladro piece of porcelain as well as discuss the stones in various estate pieces for sale.

You you you shopgirl!!

You get robbed at gunpoint, OP.

It is retail sales, you are just selling more expensive stuff. You still have to sell enough to make a decent commission, you still have to work nights and weekends. More often than not you have to work at "the mall". You have to be personable. You are on your feet most the day in uncomfortable shoes. There are a lot of off hours where almost no one will come in. You have to worry about thieves. It helps if you are pretty/handsome.

It is retail - and retail sucks something awful. I worked at a hardware chain and then a drugstore chain and quit both. I followed my passion for computers to great gain.

How does Tiffany’s = Walmart?

99% of your shoppers are "just looking" and not buying. If you're not located in a mall, then you spend every moment under the threat of an armed robbery. Every time you move, you have to be careful not to accidentally trigger the hidden silent alarm. If you have shelves with china, people let their kids run around, without any worry that they might break something.

[quote] Every time you move, you have to be careful not to accidentally trigger the hidden silent alarm.

Does the silent alarm get triggered often? What happens when it does? Is it different working for an independent jeweler vs. a chain?

When you trigger it by accident, you won't know for sure that you triggered it...until the police show up. Then you apologize profusely.

A high class shop bottom is still a shop bottom.

from article: Qualifications A successful jewelry salesperson knows how to listen and guide conversations to get customers to tap into the emotional side of jewelry ownership. They should be comfortable working in an atmosphere of expensive objects that could be the target of thieves -- the Jeweler's Security Alliance reported store thefts rose in 2011. Knowing how necklace styles, chain lengths and earring types complement face shapes, and how ring settings and stone cuts complement hands adds to the customer-service skills needed to develop trusting relationships with clients that close sales. A positive attitude, friendly demeanor and passing a background check round out ...

Worked at what is considered a (joke) 'high-end' jewelry store for ten years. I worked in a mall and at a freestanding location. Christmas and Valentine's Day were obviously the busiest days, Mother's Day probably next.

You didn't have to be GIA certified but it certainly helped, especially if you were in the room with the precious stones and engagement rings/statement jewelry

I did the back of house, customer service and selling. Got fired after not selling enough. What was frustrating is that I was trying to transfer to another (better management) location but it was too late.

Yes, we do see our video. What would you like to know?

Fired from one...

Retail is considered a good job??? Did you finish high school, OP? It’s

my dad was a jewelry importer/wholesaler, and he tried twice opening a retail store and ended up losing lots of money both times. the only thing that kept him afloat was the wholesale side of the business.

The retail stores made money in during Christmas, Valentine's and Mother's day. Other than that it was a lot of slow days with very little traffic.

OP, while not quite as glamorous, perhaps you'd find working in a pillow store to be very relaxing.

If OP had any ambition, he'd become his own boss and be an Avon Lady.

Why didn't you punch and delete, OP?

I had a great uncle who made his fortune as a (crooked) jeweler. He made millions. This was a very long time ago, and he was very crooked.

In undergraduate school in the early 90s I worked in the swankiest jewelry store in my city. The store was beautifully decorated and looked like something out of a 1930s movie. People would come in and drop $100,000 on a bracelet just on a whim. Fred Smith's wife (Fred Smith = owner of Federal Express) would sweep in with her smelly unwashed hair and her ugly kids and be a bitch to everyone else, but she loved me. I worked in the back keeping up with the jewelry inventory. I loved that job. The owner of the store was gay and had been in business for 30 years and was one of my mom's best friends. He was 40 years older than me and was such great fun. He taught me so much about being gay and how, even in those difficult times how lucky I was to have been born in a more accepting climate than he had been.

I still wear the beautiful, timeless 18 karat gold Cartier tank watch that he gave me when I got my masters. I have many other, more expensive watches, but that one is that means the most to me. Sadly, he died not too long ago and I was a pallbearer at his funeral.

I think about his store often and the wonderful, fun people who worked there.

R21 everything about your whole experience is rare. Lucky man.

Exponentially lucky, R22. My whole life has been that way. If I die tomorrow I can't complain. I've had a fantastic ride, much better than most, and I'm aware of it and grateful for it.

A friend of mine managed a small town store and made a killing. It was next to the movie theater in the mall, and couples had to walk past the windows on the way to the ticket booth. Every high school girl would stop and say "Oh, thats pretty" as she walked by, and like clockwork her date would come in on Monday and buy whatever piece of crap opal ring or necklace she had pointed at. It was all low end junk--opals, birth stones, diamond chips, and gold chains, but the mark-up was astronomical. Then the theater expanded and moved to the other end of the mall. She was out of business in 6 months without that built-in traffic.

r21 I know where you worked! I won't mentioned it here but I went into that store many times and it certainly was beautiful. There was no place like it in the mid south. It was your reference to Fred Smith that gave you away. Thank you for reminding me of the owner. He was always smiling and such a nice man.

My friend used to work at the jewelry (now only watches, I think) at the Wynn in Vegas. Crazy hours, but she said the Le end people made about$150,000 a year, and the tops sales people made closer to 300. All were GIA certified, and dressed in a quietly elegant way. Not that the clientele ever made an effort. But the hotel gives out $100,000 gift cards to high rollers and some of it would be spent in their shop. Or someone had a great night and they would gift themselves with jewelry.

One of the people working there was Tony Bennett's longtime live in girlfriend, whom he dumped at some point, and he didn't give her a lot of $$ so she had to find a job.

I worked at one for a minute and the hardest part, for me, was the static standing all day long. The store's floors were granite tile and they were killer on my joints and muscles. I'd return home every day physically exhausted and sore.

Two things I learned from my short time there: Jewelry is MASSIVELY marked up and presentation is everything. If someone falls in love with a certain piece of jewelry, price consideration goes right out the window.