Handmade Jewelry

Handmade jewelry is any piece of jewelry which has been assembled and formed by hand rather than through the use of machines. According to the guidelines of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), in order to be stamped or called "handmade" the work must be made solely by hand power or hand guidance. In essence, this means that jewelry may be made using drills, lathes, and other machinery, but it must be guided by human hand. This precludes the use of punch presses and CNC (computer numerical control) machinery, to name a few processes that would not qualify as "handmade". Beyond that caveat it can be anything made out of anything that would be considered jewelry. The American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum awards, the Gem Center Idar Oberstein, and the De Beers Awards include awards specifically for handmade jewelry.

Although there is much mass produced jewelry in the world, there are many people who prefer to have work that is hand-crafted by a real artisan, and the arena of hand made jewelry and other items will likely remain healthy because of that fact. Much jewelry that is marked or sold as "hand made" often is not truly so, though it may be essentially so.