Is Handmade jewellery Better than Machine-made Jewellery?

Jewellery in all forms is delight to wear but the choice of jewellery is however a matter of personal choice.

While some people like authentic and expensive hand-crafted jewellery, others may simply want to stock their wardrobes with trendy and fashionable items. Honestly, both have their own pros and cons. Let's try and compare both types of jewellery on the basis of their quality, durability and affordability.

Let's begin with understanding what machine-made and handmade jewellery are and what makes them popular?

Most of the modern jewellery available today is manufactured using machines and hence is called machine-made jewellery. jewellers today are preferring machines over artisans because machines copy exact and accurate jewellery design elements and produce a considerably large volume of high-end fashion–jewellery within no time. No wonder, they offer more variety, better finish and are easier on the pocket too thereby offering better profits to the jewellers.

Talking about the authentic handmade jewellery, it is carefully handcrafted by skilled artisans after putting in hours of labor to produce intricate designs using age-old methods. Though not as well-finished as machine-made jewellery, handmade jewellery is highly valued and priced for the art and skill that has been put in during its preparation. Handmade jewellery has a special charm and elegance to it and hence makes for a perfect gift for someone special.

Let us know look at the pros and cons of both types of jewellery.

Machine made jewellery whether precious, semi-precious or low-end materials are often fashionable and offer beautiful range of designs and finishes to choose from. However beautiful it might appear initially, it can easily wear down. And, repairing machine-made jewellery is difficult and often leaves ugly scars only to leave your precious item worthless. Finishes and polishes that make this jewellery attractive, are actually a limitation when it needs to be repaired. The polish burns easily and causes irreparable damage to the articles. Recycling the metals then is almost impossible and cannot be considered an investment. However, if you know how to maintain your precious things well, nothing promises more variety and elegance than extremely beautiful, fashionable and guaranteed machine-made jewellery.

Authentic handmade silver and gold jewellery fitted with precious, semiprecious or Swarovski crystals have always been coveted by designers and consumers alike. Handmade jewellery is an investment and can easily be repaired whenever required often with minimum effort. The metals and stones can be recycled or rearranged into a new design altogether at considerably low costs when compared to purchasing a new machine-made jewellery item in the event of an irreparable damage to the article. Beautiful, authentic and specially handcrafted fashionable jewellery can be manufactured using almost all metals and gemstone combinations. Handmade jewellery gives you best value for money. However, skilled artisans are required to create and repair these beautiful pieces of art. However, care must be exercised when purchasing hand-made jewellery. Below are some tips to help you identify the real jewellery.

Inspect the materials used. Silver or gold must always be marked for their carat weight or quality. Stones can be natural, treated or stabilized and can easily be identified using simple techniques such as trying to scratch a diamond which never scratches or looking for bubbles inside a Swarovski crystal which is never present. A written disclosure indicating all components of your article on your receipt while buying can guarantee a genuine purchase.

Obtain a certificate of authenticity:  A certificate of authenticity of the materials used in your jewellery can assure the quality of your purchase and can be useful when trying to resell or remodel your jewellery later.

Whatever your choice might be, a thing of beauty is a joy forever.