Jewelcrafting arrived with The Burning Crusade, which launched on January 16, 2007. The groundwork — gem sockets on gear and the 2.0.1 pre-patch — went live in December 2006, so it became WoW's first new crafting profession after the original launch. Classic players got it much later, when Burning Crusade Classic released on June 1, 2021.
Jewelcrafting at a glance
| Expansion that added it | The Burning Crusade |
| Retail launch date | January 16, 2007 |
| Pre-patch groundwork | Patch 2.0.1, December 2006 (gem sockets, meta gems) |
| Skill cap at the time | 375 (Master tier) |
| Rank names | Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Artisan, Master |
| Classic timeline | Burning Crusade Classic, June 1, 2021 |
| Next profession added to WoW | Inscription, with Wrath of the Lich King (2008) |
Was Jewelcrafting in vanilla WoW or Classic Era?
No. Original WoW shipped in 2004 without it, and Classic Era still has no Jewelcrafting trainers. Gear in that era had no gem sockets at all, so there was nothing for the profession to supply. If you are playing a fresh Classic Era character and cannot find a trainer, that is why — you need a Burning Crusade realm.
Why did Blizzard add Jewelcrafting?
The Burning Crusade introduced socketed gear, and sockets need a steady supply of gems. Jewelcrafting became that supply chain: prospect ore into raw gems, cut them, and sell or slot them. It also gave Mining a second buyer beyond Blacksmithing and Engineering, which is why the Mining/Jewelcrafting pairing became the classic combo it still is today.
What does Artisan Jewelcrafting mean?
Artisan is the 225–300 skill band — the tier you unlock after Expert and before Master. In TBC terms, hitting Artisan means you can finally handle the higher-end vanilla recipes and step into Outland materials. It is the point where the profession stops eating gold and starts paying you back.
Do modern expansions still use Jewelcrafting?
Yes. It has been part of every expansion since 2007, though the shape has changed: skill caps, gem tiers and rank systems have been reworked several times, and current retail uses its own profession specialization system rather than the old flat 1–375 ladder. The core loop — prospect, cut, socket — survived all of it.
When did Classic players get Jewelcrafting?
June 1, 2021, with the launch of Burning Crusade Classic, and it has carried forward through the Classic progression realms since. That release is why searches for Jewelcrafting spiked fifteen years after the profession first appeared.
Levelling it is the unglamorous part: a lot of ore, a lot of prospecting, a lot of grey-value cuts you throw away. If you would rather skip the farm, our vetted human players handle TBC Jewelcrafting Artisan progression from EUR 64 — coaching and play-together help, no bots or cheats, with a long zero-ban record behind it.