Handmade Jewelry - Overview

Handmade jewelry is jewelry that has been hand-crafted and assembled rather than using a machine.

What Constitutes a Handmade Jewelry?

For jewelry to be tagged “handmade”, there should be no other means of fashioning such jewelry than hand power or hand guidance. This is according to the guideline of the FTC. This implies that the designing of jewelry may be achieved by using lathes, drills or some other machinery; however, it must be necessarily hand-guided for it to be called handmade. On the other hand, this does not include the use of punch presses, casting and CNC machinery that may not be deemed “handmade”.

Further than the caveat, the jewelry under discussion can be anything designed out of whatever that may be seen as jewelry. Some specific awards geared towards handmade jewelry in particular are the American Gem Trade Association Spectrum awards, the De Beers Awards and the Gem Center Idar Oberstein.

Why People Prefer Handmade Jewelry

All over the world today, you can find wide range of mass produced jewelry; however, a lot of people opt for handmade jewelries such as handmade earrings, handmade necklace, handmade bracelets etc. Many people go for hand-crafted jewelries by authentic artisans because they are most likely to stay healthy since they have been specially and carefully crafted by hand.

It’s a pity that sometimes people sell machine-crafted jewelries and tag them hand-made. Notwithstanding, you can get authentic hand-made jewelries including earrings, bracelets, filigree rings, filigree pendants and other hand-crafted beads.

You can also find antique filigree bracelets; these are usually hard to create just like most hand-crafted jewelries. It’s finishing is also accomplished painstakingly with hands using antique processes. Filigree jewelries became very popular during the period of Art Deco in 1920s and 1930s. One of the reasons for its popularity is the romanticism and details of this jewelry; it has continued to be popular till date.

Indeed, the world of handmade jewelry is enthralling; although it is guided by wide varieties of crafting techniques, it is not bound by them. The wide range of materials alone involved in making handcrafted jewelry shows that this special jewelry is a universe on its own. With personal styles and individuality reflected via every created piece, handmade jewelry can be accessed but they are rarely common.

There are genuine hand-crafted jewelries but they are not common. Go for specially and uniquely hand-crafted jewelry offered by artisans who know better and special ways of crafting not-easy-to-come-by handmade jewelries. For such artisans, it is an obsession to ensure that their work stands out from the crowd!

The genuine hand-crafted jewelries are usually expensive when compared with the mass-produced jewelries. But if you are not a shopper that pays attention to details, you may be deceived to by machine-made jewelry which has been created to look so much like the hand crafted jewelries.

If you have decided to buy a handcrafted jewelry, then you must insist on nothing but genuine handmade necklace, earrings, bracelet, or pendants and not to settle for anything less. But you must know how to spot the genuine ones to avoid being ripped.

About the Author:

Tom Babilla is the author of this article on Handmade Jewelry. Find more information about Designer Jewelry here.