The Jewelry Industry has long thrived on craftsmanship and artistry, but there’s a less-talked-about tension simmering within its ranks: Sales Jewelers versus Bench Jewelers.
It’s a rivalry that, at first glance, might appear as a simple disagreement between two essential roles. However, beneath the surface lies a deeper, one-sided resentment—a reflection of the career struggles facing many Bench Jewelers today.
For generations, young jewelers have been guided toward mastering the art of bench work. They’ve invested years honing their skills, only to find themselves tethered to a workbench, making just above minimum wage. These highly specialized skills, impressive as they are, often don’t translate to substantial income or career growth. As a result, the frustrations of the Bench Jeweler often get directed at their Sales counterparts, who seem to “get ahead” without the same level of technical expertise.
But here’s the reality: the path of a Sales Jeweler, with the right knowledge and strategy, holds far more potential to rise within the industry—even to business ownership. Rather than just focusing on sales tactics, a Sales Jeweler who masters the Five Pillars of a Jewelry Business can eventually break free from the employee mindset and transition into becoming a successful jewelry brand owner.
The Five Pillars of a Jewelry Business: What Sales Jewelers Need to Know
Unlike a Bench Jeweler, a Sales Jeweler isn’t just limited to a single skill set. Their position allows them to understand the entire spectrum of what makes a jewelry business successful, especially if they focus on these Five Pillars:
Product Design – You don’t need to be a designer; you just need to understand the basics of what makes a piece desirable and how to translate customer desires into product specifications.
Marketing – Knowing how to generate interest, reach new customers, and cultivate a brand following is essential knowledge. Sales Jewelers learn to communicate the unique value of jewelry pieces, a skill that translates directly to successful marketing.
Sales & Customer Service – Mastering the art of selling and providing exceptional service builds relationships and trust, two critical assets for any business owner.
Production & Operations – Understanding the basics of supply chain, materials, and manufacturing processes can help a future business owner balance quality and cost effectively.
Finance – Knowing enough about managing finances, budgeting, and pricing can make the difference between a business that survives and one that wins big.
A Sales Jeweler doesn’t need to be an expert in each pillar—they need only to communicate effectively with experts in these fields and learn enough to eventually take the reins themselves. Of course, A.I. tools from Jeweler’s Advantage can fill these knowledge gaps as well…
So, Why the Resentment?
For the Bench Jeweler, the dissatisfaction is often rooted in the feeling that their specialized skills should equate to higher pay or recognition. Unfortunately, that’s not always how the industry is structured. In contrast, the Sales Jeweler’s role, with its more comprehensive view of the business, presents a unique opportunity for career growth that doesn’t necessarily demand technical mastery at the bench.
The criticism Sales Jewelers face, then, is often misplaced—a coping mechanism for the frustrations many Bench Jewelers experience when they see that their hard-earned skills aren’t yielding the lifestyle they had envisioned.
The Bottom Line: Make Your Move
If you’re a Sales Jeweler ready to move beyond your current role and start your own jewelry business, remember that you’re in a prime position. By mastering the fundamentals of the Five Pillars, you can build a strong foundation for success that goes beyond the shop floor. If you’re a Bench Jeweler, the path is different but your outcome is the same: Master the Five Pillars of the Jewelry Business.
Are you ready to take the first step toward owning a thriving jewelry business? Our team at Jeweler’s Advantage is here to help you turn your goals into reality.
Book a call with us to discover how we can guide you on this journey. Or, if you’re just starting out, download our Free AI CoPilot to begin learning the skills you’ll need—simply click the red button below.
What's up guys! This is a short talk for the up-and-coming next generation of talent in the jewelry industry, in what we're calling the New Jewelry Industry. If there's only one thing you take away from me in this talk, it is this: do not let them lie to you and make you poor. Do not let them lie to you and make you poor. Let's break this down.
There is a one-sided rivalry in the jewelry industry. If you're in the various online communities and listening to the noise of the echo chamber, you're going to think this is a real rivalry—the rivalry between the bench jeweler and the sales jeweler. "Oh, those talentless sales jewelers out there, just talking to customers, taking money, and making the business run." These "talentless" sales jewelers are often seen as nuisances in the industry. But here's the deal: this is a one-sided rivalry because the sales jeweler is the one that ends up owning the business and making all the money.
You'll hear the bench jeweler crowd, and this is no disrespect—I know what you guys do is hard—but this is about telling the truth. There's all this talk about needing to "conduct the orchestra." We all love that phrase; we love saying, "Oh, I know how to conduct the orchestra. I know how to manage people and really understand how this business is supposed to go." But you're not conducting an orchestra from that bench, cleaning a piece of jewelry. That’s an employee role.
The reason why this one-sided rivalry exists is that the bench jeweler role is disgruntled and feels underappreciated. They feel underpaid for the amount of work they learned to do in jewelry school, only to end up with a job that pays just above minimum wage. So when you hear about this "rivalry," the idea that sales jewelers are the losers and that it’s really the bench jewelers making everything happen—this is a lie to keep you poor.
If you want to learn how to conduct the orchestra, you need to know how to be the sales jeweler and how to promote yourself out of that position. The sales jeweler doesn’t stay in that seat forever. If they know these five things, it’s going to allow them to actually conduct the orchestra.
The first thing is product design and creation. They only need to know enough to explain what has to happen to a CAD designer, production manager, or bench jeweler. Next, they need to know marketing. Sales jewelers probably get on their phone, like me, and know how to make content that resonates with people on social media. They know how to get people to pay attention and want to know more about the business that sells jewelry. That’s marketing.
Most of the content made from a bench is just for the creator's ego—the customer doesn’t really care. The customer doesn’t want to see your bench; that's only interesting to jeweler communities, who are not your customer. The third pillar is sales and service. The sales jeweler obviously knows how to sell jewelry, but they also need to create a positive experience for the customer.
Then we have operations. This is where the systems thinkers come in. The real CEO of most e-commerce jewelry businesses is essentially doing the job of a COO, which makes them a great CEO because they understand the machine of the business. You can’t be doing that from a bench; you’re not operating any business mechanism if you’re sitting at a bench making jewelry.
Finally, there’s finance, which is where all of this becomes real. It’s about deploying capital into the business to operate that machine. This is where the truth is reflected—what is profitable about a business at scale. You can’t do that if you’re doing employee labor, and you also can’t do that if you’re only a salesperson. But in any industry, salespeople are the most likely to start a business.
This is not meant to be disrespectful. Bench jewelers may leave comments disagreeing, and that’s fine—they’re probably not the business owners I’m speaking to. This is for the Next Generation. If you’re new in the jewelry industry, ask yourself if you’re listening to the right people. Don’t fall into the mindset of accepting low compensation and stagnation.
If you’re a new talent in this industry, think about how you can conduct the orchestra. All you need is enough understanding to communicate with the product designer, enough knowledge of marketing to brand your business, and skills in sales, service, and operations to build a scalable business. AI is making it possible for anyone to compete with the big players—it’s a huge opportunity.
Operations help create a business that can sell more than one unit, so you're not glued to a bench, doing every project yourself. Finance, the final pillar, is where everything I’m saying makes sense. It’s the cornerstone of business success.
Don’t let the older generation who made poor career choices make you poor. Learn the Five Pillars and start using AI to drive your business forward, even if you’re a one-person show. If you’re in a bench role, you can still learn these other pillars to build a path to ownership. This is a message of love and tough truth. Follow the red button at JewelersAdvantage.com, get the AI CoPilot, and start using it within the Five Pillars framework to build a real business. Don’t let them make you poor.
This is Jesse at Jeweler's Advantage, and we’ll see you in the next one.