Handmade jewelry
Handmade jewelry
Handmade jewelry is something you would find in a custom jewelry designers product line. As the name implies, handmade jewelry typically involves assembling or forming jewelry by hand as opposed to machines commonly found in factories or jewelry assembly lines. But does the term handmade mean that the entire piece of jewelry was formed by a human hand? Is handmade jewelry any better? Is it a ploy to generate income? Below, we will try to address these common questions.
Handmade jewelry – The Real Story
Handmade jewelry
Handmade jewelry is commonly associated with jewelry designers who produce smaller numbers of jewelry items, in most cases they produce more unique jewellery pieces which almost always becomes a work of art. But when is handmade jewelry not handmade or the other way around, how do you design and build or assemble a piece of art like jewelry and call it “handmade”. How much or how little of the work has to be done by hand before an artist can label their work as being handmade. If you are looking for the final word on what handmade jewelry is, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a good place to look. The FTC is the governing body. What’s the official word on handmade jewelry? There’s nothing specific for jewelry per se, but to use the word “handmade” with the FTC’s guidelines, it implies that all of the work must be made solely by human hand power or guided by human hands. The guided by human hands item is there to allow for jewelry designers and makers to use drills or lathes or any other type of tool or machinery that helps in the creation of fine handmade jewelry. But, the tool must be guided by a human hand. The jewelry manufacturing industry uses CNC machinery, punch presses and casting, to name but a few processes. But to use this type of machinery would disqualify their products from using the “handmade” label.
Handmade jewelry – Is it any better?
The quality of handmade jewelry varies from jewelry designer to designer. Some jewellery designers personally hand make their own jewelry while others hire the work out, using trained craftspeople in a workshop environment. Either way, the designer of the jewelry always watches over and meticulously inspects the finished product long before it makes it to the jewelry store to ensure that their own strict standards are met, after all, their own good names as designers are attached to the finished product.
To determine if handmade jewelry is “better” than machine made depends largely on what the consumer deems special or important. While a machine is able to produce certain types of jewelry with accuracy and speed, which brings the price of that jewelry down, handmade jewelry has a uniqueness and quality to it that simply cannot compare. The artists hand is evident in handmade jewelry and, as jewelry becomes a part of us and our personal style, it really depends what the customer values.
Handmade Jewelry
When you buy a handmade piece of jewelry, how do you know if it really is handmade? How do you know if it’s really good quality There are awards that recognize quality in handmade jewelry such as the American Gem Trade Association Spectrum awards. De Beers Awards include awards for handmade jewelry as well as the Gem Center Idar Oberstein recognize handmade jewelry and are trustworthy sources of authenticity and quality. Often, the reputation alone of the artists and jewelry designer is the telling factor. Jewelry designer like Karen McClintock, Hilary Druxman and Ayala Bar have years of jewelry making and a solid reputation to back them up. Buying jewelry from a reputable jewelry store with trained, informed sales people is another way to ensure you are getting what you are paying for.
No comments yet.