worth one’s salt – deserving of one’s wages or salary [dict]

On last night’s BBC TV program, The Real Hustle, Alexis demonstrated a scam in which he conned an unsuspecting girl into becoming an accomplice in a jewelery store robbery. Pretending not sure what jewelery to buy for his wife, Alexis asked a girl sitting outside a jewelery store for a big favor – to try on a necklace. Ready to help, the girl agreed and stepped into the store together with Alexis. Alexis asked for a $5000 necklace, and quickly switched it with a $5 one when no one was watching. He then set off the mobile phone ring, and excused to go outside the shop for better signal. The jeweler assumed the two were together, so she didn’t stop him. Once outside the shop, Alexis quickly drove off. “Any jewelers worth their salt will realize the switch straightway”, he explained in the program, “So you got to get out quickly”. This scam worked as the hustler exploited the dual relationship he had with a newly-met girl, and made the jeweler think they were together.