Custom and Handmade to Order
Handmade jewellery has been all the rage lately. The personal attention and love that makers and artisans infuse into their work is evident in the masterpieces that they create. What most people don’t understand is why handmade jewellery is more of an investment than its mass produced counterparts. There are many reasons why handmade jewellery is more of an investment than pieces that are mass produced, so I thought I would break it down for you!
Below are 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Handmade Jewellery.
- No Mass Production Machinery Involved: By definition, handmade jewellery is literally just that, made by the “hands” of the artisan or maker. The pieces are soldered, sawed, carved and shaped without the use of mass produced manufacturing machinery. A machine can crank out hundreds of units per hour while an individual can only make a finite quantity or fraction of the number of pieces in the same amount of time.
- The Value of Time: As previously mentioned, since there are no machines involved, handmade jewellery takes an incredible amount of time to produce just a single piece. Our designers often spend hours designing a single piece of jewellery for a client. The time to make the piece often can take weeks.
- The Maker’s Process: Our designers and craftsmen have a very intimate relationship with each piece or design they create. The design process is key to the value that is inherent in each piece. Mohamed Fadhil talks about his process and says, “While creating jewellery, there is a very intimate relationship with my work. I know every curve and line is put there with intention. As a designer, your energy goes into the piece.”
- Materials: In almost every case, the value of the materials involved in a handmade piece are of stellar quality. It’s difficult to regulate or even know exactly what alloys are used in mass produced factories where dirty metals are blended together to create costume pieces. Handmade materials are generally sourced from highly reputable suppliers.
- Sustainability: We are dedicated to sustainability and ethically sourced materials. By nature, being ethical can be much more costly than taking the easy route and purchasing from the refiner or dealer with low prices and shady sourcing. We always use the highest quality materials sourced from suppliers who share our ethos about sustainability whenever possible. Smaller scale production is almost always higher quality.
- Quality: Smaller scale production is almost always higher quality because the ability to track and control the process from start to finish is inherent in the making process. Our designers and artisans are extremely proud of the work we produce. We will not let something of inferior quality leave our establishment with our name on it.
- Locally Made with Love: There is a lot of buzz with “buying local” these days. Reducing your carbon footprint and supporting local artisans is good for the environment and good for everyone. Artisans and makers infuse love and energy into each piece of work. There is HUGE value in supporting local from a sustainability and energetic standpoint. Along with the extra value inherent in handmade jewellery you are also buying a truly one-of-a-kind product. Even if the handmade piece is part of an edition – no maker creates two pieces that are exactly identical. You are the only person with that specific piece of jewellery which says a lot.
The next time you consider purchasing a handmade piece of jewellery, remember that even though the piece may be an investment, you are supporting something even bigger. You should feel really good about your purchase knowing that you have a special piece of the artist in your jewellery collection.