Your career after a course in Jewellery & Accessory Design

There was a time when designing was limited to Interior designing and fashion designing, but the dawn of the new era brought new career avenues in designing such as Jewellery and Accessory designing. Designing as a profession itself is very challenging and calls for creativity! And when we are talking about pursuing a career in Jewellery and Accessory design; then for sure you need to leave creativity far behind and start thinking out of the box. The sole reason for asking you to leave creativity behind is that now it is considered "The newer the design, the better is the Jewellery"!

The field of Jewellery and Accessory design demands for individuals who have a lot of patience as they need to make sure each and every curve that they are giving to the raw material is inch perfect and that the finished product that they develop is exactly what they imagined!

Jewellery designers create new designs for gold, silver and precious metal jewellery. The job involves everything from casting and moulding to identifying and experimenting on different gemstones and jewellery.

On the contrary accessory design encompasses designing of all accessories that complete the fashion image. Designing of millinery, jewellery, handbags, shoes, belts, hosiery, accessories for the head/hair etc. are part of accessory design programme.

The duration of the courses are usually 3 years though it may vary from institute to institute as there are few institutes that are offering a short term certificate course for the same.

Eligibility:

The minimum eligibility for the jewellery and accessory design is 10+2 from a recognized board/university. However, Graduates and postgraduates can also apply for the course. There are few institutes that offer short term certificate courses which don't require any such eligibility criteria.

Career Prospects:

Jewellery and Accessory designing has a very bright career prospect as the trend in jewellery and accessories change quite frequently and the jewellery or accessory that is in vogue today becomes outdated tomorrow. So, if you are full of creative and unique ideas then you definitely have a sparkling and shining future in this field.

In terms of job opportunities, aspirants can get good opportunities in fashion houses, export houses, jewellery designing houses and free lancing projects. If not these, then you have a great chance to start your own venture and getting self employed.

Since a large number of Indian jewellery designers work for private players, salaries can vary widely, depending on how experienced a designer is and how much s/he is valued by the employer. A designer with a major retailer can get Rs10, 000-Rs25, 000 a month in the initial stages. The pay can go above R1 lakh a month, depending on seniority and caliber. Established designers earn as per their name, exclusivity of the design and the clientele they design for.