Jewelcrafting

Jewelcrafting is a primary profession that brings out the power of precious stones. Jewelcrafters make rings, necklaces and trinkets, and they cut gems that fit into the sockets of weapons and armor, giving that gear extra properties (see Gems and Sockets). Their skills are wanted for special items, gear upgrades and rare gems.

Jewelcrafting was added in patch 2.0.1 with The Burning Crusade. At first only owners of that expansion could learn it, since its trainers stood only in Outland, Eversong Woods and the Exodar. When The Burning Crusade became part of the base game in June 2011 everyone gained access, and by Cataclysm trainers had been added to the old world.

Since patch 8.0.1 (2018) every expansion has its own skill bar with a small cap, instead of one long bar that covered all expansions together. Classic runs from 1 to 300; the newer bars are much shorter:

You improve by crafting and by discovering new designs. Since Mists of Pandaria most rare gem designs are learned by random discovery, using uncut gems or a Spirit of Harmony, while uncommon gems are taught by trainers. Other designs come from daily quests, reputation rewards or special tokens.

• Anything beyond the most basic designs needs a Jeweler's Toolset.
• Draenei characters get +5 Jewelcrafting skill from their racial Gemcutting.
• Mining is the best partner, because ore is in high demand and therefore expensive on the Auction House (see Gathering Professions).

Jewelcrafters learn Prospecting, which breaks raw ore down to find gems. Cut gems give stat bonuses: primary gems usually give one stat and secondary gems two. Gems come in qualities such as uncommon, rare and epic, and better quality means stronger bonuses. Some special gems, such as meta gems, are made with Alchemy transmutes.

The source describes gems in eight colours. Most gems fit any socket, but a gem that matches the socket's colour also turns on that item's socket bonus:

To socket a gem, Shift + right-click an item that has open sockets. A window opens where you drop the gems in, then press "Socket Gems" to fix them in place. You can replace a socketed gem later, but the old gem is destroyed.

• Figurines are trinkets that only the jewelcrafter who made them can use.
• Until patch 5.0.4, most designs above skill 300 also needed a Simple Grinder.