Jewelry made with the human hand has been popular for centuries and still is today. With the coming of the Industrial Age and large factory machinery, mass-produced jewelry became the norm. Despite this, handmade jewelry is still widely popular today.
To be officially called "handmade," jewelry must be constructed or assembled and formed with the power of the human hand. This can include certain hand-guided machines such as electric drills or lathes.
Though irregularity and non-uniformity are considered flaws in mass produced jewelry, they are prized attributes in handmade jewelry. These characteristics also can add personality, uniqueness and style to each piece.
Making jewelry by hand could be challenging to the untrained. Greater expense is typically a downside to handmade jewelry especially whe using precious and semi-precious materials like gemstones or gold. With recent soaring prices of gold and silver, handmade jewelry is more prized than ever. Hand crafted jewelry can also make the cost prohibitive for artisans or designers who buy their materials in much smaller quantities than manufacturers of bulk jewelry.
In recent years, with internet forums, chats and online stores, the interest in how to make handmade jewelry has been on the rise. Still, most prefer to rely on the skill and expertise of handmade jewelry designers rather than spend time and money learning the practice and perfecting the slills of making jewelry by hand.
There are particular areas that specialize and lend themselves to handmade
over mass-produced jewelry such as wire wrapping. Wire, because of its malleability
can be fashioned by hand more easily than other design materials, The maker
has greater flexibility in the types of jewelry that can be made. For instance:
rings, earrings, necklaces, pendants and bracelets
The Benefits of Handmade Jewelry
Some of the reasons to choose handmade over mass-produced jewelry is it: