I think I'm a jeweller that makes jewellery out of sterling
silver (plus occasionally a few other things).The dictionary tells
me that a jeweller can be a variety of things including one that
just trades in jewellery and doesn't actually have jewellery making
skills. A lot of people think I'm a silversmith but I've always
thought that they are those that make larger objects such as bowls,
trays and cutlery. I've recently been told that a jeweller that
actually makes jewellery items is actually a goldsmith (even if
they only make things out of silver).
Yes, the age-old question of a defining title. In agreement with you,
I learned from what I consider a very reliable source (the
Goldscmiedeschule in Germany) that “Silversmithing” is the working
of silver in its traditional format, being hollowware & such, and
“Goldsmithing” is the working of gold in its tradtional format,
which is jewelry, personal adornments. So, when someone says they are
“taking a silversmithing class”, I first assume that they want to
learn to make bowls & candlesticks, and then I usually realize that
no, they were just using that term to mean working in silver. Well,
of course most metalsmithing (to use the more generic term) classes
don’t start by teaching you how to work in sterling or fine silver,
they start with a cheaper metal so you can learn the skills, then
you work up to the more expensive metal when you’re comfortable with
it. So does that mean you start in the first few weeks as a
coppersmith or a nickelsmith, then work up to silversmith? No, that
means you’re learning the techniques of goldsmithing and then
applying them to various metals as is appropriate. Coppersmithing,
for that matter, has an alltogether different connotation, of turning
out ladels and urns in copper, sort of like a silversmith but in
copper.
Now for the name “jeweler”. I’ve often wondered what that really
means as well. I think often people who own a jewelry store are
considered “jewelers”, though perhaps they don’t have the actual
skills to make much of anything, and of course maybe they do, but
then maybe they’re considered a “goldsmith”. I don’t refer to myself
as one, also, because that could mean too many things that aren’t
me. Of course, no matter which name you choose that could be a
problem. If you want to think of it as a problem, anyway. For me, I
wander between the names “Artist” and “Metalsmith”. I don’t tell
people “goldsmith” because then they think I work in gold (again, the
common misunderstanding in the terminology), and I feel a bit like I
shouldn’t anyway because I’m not a “Master” goldsmith, though it’s
not like I was going to call myself a “master goldsmith”, just maybe
“goldsmith”. I’ve been doing crafts & fine art for forever, so
“Artist” comes naturally to me. My jewelry tends to be more on the
“art” side, anyway, not the more traditional “jewelry store”
variety, if you know what I mean. But if I say “Artist” to people,
they ask what I paint! As far as the IRS is concerned, though, that
is my title. So, to try to make it as easy as possible, I tell people
I’m a “Metalsmith”, usually followed closely by “I make jewelry”, so
they aren’t imagining me welding ironwork fences. In the end, there
is not easy solution. Try some names out, see what works for you. In
the end, just have some cards on hand & you can just show people what
you do instead of trying to label it. 
Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher