Artisan Jewelry vs. Mass Produced Jewelry - What's The Difference?

Walk through any mall, and you'll see store after store carrying mass produced jewelry, most of which looks pretty similar. But visit an online or brick-and-mortar specialty boutique, street fair or festival that features artisan jewelry, and you'll find original eye-catching designs made with unique components.

By definition, an artisan is a skilled craftsperson highly knowledgeable in an applied art. Jewelry artisans design and create functional beauty through wearable art that expresses the personality and passion of both the designer and the wearer. Made by hand and from the heart, these unique, one-of-a-kind pieces speak both for themselves and for the person they grace.

Handcrafted jewelry was first made in prehistoric times, dating back to approximately 110,000 BCE. Made from locally-found materials like shell, feathers, bone, pebbles and wood, some were used as amulets while others were made for personal adornment. Jewelry with natural metals made an appearance with copper around 5000 BCE, and gold jewelry came on the scene in about 4000 BCE. From then on, various cultures adopted their own styles of artisan jewelry, some of which had amazingly intricate designs.

Fast-forward to today, when artisans not only use natural materials but can also create individual components of their own. Glass lampwork beads, for example, are crafted one at a time by some skilled artisans, and each one is a work of art unto itself with no two beads being identical. Compare jewelry made with these unique pieces to mass produced jewelry in which millions of beads are exactly the same, and you can see why artisan jewelry is so much more desirable and higher in quality.

Contact us to find the perfect piece of artisan jewelry to suit your outfit, special occasion, or personality. We specialize in custom orders, and we also have a wide selection of unique jewelry already waiting for you in our online store.