3 MAIN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BUY HANDMADE

 

Each day more and more people are looking for something unique to wear, therefore handmade and crafted jewelry has increased in popularity lately. And with this in mind, there are 3 MAIN REASONS you should know about how special your handmade jewelry is:

 

NOT MASS-PRODUCED

Handmade jewelry means “made by hand.” not mass-produced. The pieces are created without the use of manufacturing machinery. This means that all beading, stitching, wrapping, etc. is done by the artisans themselves aka "me". While machines can produce multiple products in a short amount of time, individual artisans can make far less in that amount of time but it means that the detail of work is higher.

For some jewelry makers, their pieces are one of a kind. This does not mean they can create only one. We can’t put a necklace up for sale on their personal website and sell 100 of them. However, even though they can be recreated similarly to the first one, they still will be different as they are handcrafted separately.

  

COST EFFICIENT

While manufacturing machines cut time out of production, they also cut quality. Handmade jewelry takes time It can take a considerable amount of time to finish one piece by hand. The design takes time for the artisan to create, and finish.

Materials can cost more in higher quality handmade jewelry. It’s harder to know what metals are used in mass-produced jewelry manufacturing, versus what an individual artisan uses. If you think of the time spent designing, creating, and the high quality of materials used, it makes sense that custom-made or hand-stamped jewelry costs more. We as artisans, take extra time designing and making it, and we use superior materials to mass-manufacture jewelry.

  

LOCAL

One of the most important things to remember with your local artisan-made jewelry is that you are supporting local artists. Oftentimes, artists support ethical practices within our field, sourcing materials from ethically responsible places from manufacturing to packaging. Investing in a piece from an artisan is special, keep in mind, that some of them are unique pieces, not so easily created. When jewelry is made by hand, there is always room for slight differences and changes in design.

Most small business owners, and especially jewelry makers like myself, make commitments to getting materials from ethically sourced places. A lot of jewelers make commitments to other sustainable business practices as well. This can cause the costs to go up which may affect the price of jewelry. You should feel really good about your purchase, knowing that you have a special piece of the artist in your jewelry collection. Each piece is carefully created to bring you joy and excitement not only from the piece itself but also from the packaging and customer service a small business provides, which becomes personalized and unique for all of you.

Now with Christmas time around the corner, get something unique, local, and carefully created specially for you or your loved ones.

I could keep going about the reasons for buying handmade but for now, these are my top 3

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