Handcrafted vs Mass Quantity

Why we choose Artists over anything Manufactured...

Some of my friends have asked me "Why is the jewelry that you carry so much more expensive than what they carry at Target or Kohl's or any other discounted big box store". Well friends, we only carry jewelry made by artisans. Each piece is individually handcrafted in the artist's own studio and has taken many hours of sweat and time.

While some people like authentic and expensive handcrafted jewelry, others may simply want to stock their wardrobes with trendy and fashionable items. Honestly, both have their own pros and cons. Let’s try and compare both types of jewelry on the basis of their quality, durability and affordability.

Let’s begin with understanding what machine-made and handmade jewelry are and what makes them popular?

Most of the modern jewelry available today is manufactured using machines and hence is called machine-made jewelry. Jewelers today are preferring machines over artisans because machines copy exact and accurate jewelry design elements and produce a considerably large volume of high-end fashion–jewelry within no time. No wonder, they offer more variety, better finish and are easier on the pocket too thereby offering better profits to the jewelers.

Talking about the authentic handmade jewelry, it is carefully handcrafted by skilled artisans after putting in hours of labor to produce intricate designs using age-old methods. Though not as well-finished as machine-made jewelry,handmade jewelry is highly valued and priced for the art and skill that has been put in during its preparation. Handmade jewelry has a special charm and elegance to it and hence makes for a perfect gift for someone special.

Machine made jewelry whether precious, semi-precious or low-end materials are often fashionable and offer beautiful range of designs and finishes to choose from. However beautiful it might appear initially, it can easily wear down. And, repairing machine-made jewelry is difficult and often leaves ugly scars only to leave your precious item worthless. Finishes and polishes that make this jewelry attractive, are actually a limitation when it needs to be repaired. The polish burns easily and causes irreparable damage to the articles. Recycling the metals then is almost impossible and cannot be considered an investment. However, if you know how to maintain your precious things well, nothing promises more variety and elegance than extremely beautiful, fashionable and guaranteed machine-made jewelry.

Authentic handmade silver and gold jewelry fitted with precious, semiprecious or Swarovski crystals have always been coveted by designers and consumers alike. Handmade jewelry is an investment and can easily be repaired whenever required often with minimum effort. The metals and stones can be recycled or rearranged into a new design altogether at considerably low costs when compared to purchasing a new machine-made jewelry item in the event of an irreparable damage to the article. Beautiful , authentic and specially handcrafted fashionable jewelry can be manufactured using almost all metals and gemstone combinations. Handmade jewelry gives you best value for money. However, skilled artisans are required to create and repair these beautiful pieces of art.

In summary, is there a better way between trendy fashion jewelry and handcrafted? I think so, which is why our websites support crafters. Handcrafted is a dying art that we choose to support. All of our designs on our website are truly unique pieces and you can see the love and man hours involved in creating each piece. Another interesting fact is that handcrafted jewelry can be melted down and recycled when you're done with it, which is on just about every consumer's mind these days. We are now carrying a whole section dedicated to recycled jewelry.
But more on that later.....

Parts of this article were excerpted from Rob Colburn