Handmade jewelry is that which is crafted by hand, just as jewelry has been since it was very first created by humans. Unlike modern machine-made jewelry, no two pieces of handmade jewelry - even of the same design - will be identical.

Many artists who handmake jewelry use no pre-made or fabricated parts at all, even creating their own findings, such as ear hoops and hooks, brooch pins, clasps and more. Findings refers to jewellery components used to put together the jewelry. ...

Much handmade jewelry is created using age-old metalsmithing techniques such as forging, raising, chasing, soldering and more to create complex forms in various types of precious and other metals. Metals may also be etched, engraved or coloured using a wide variety of techniques. This article is about smithing. ... In Transformational Grammar and other derived grammatical frameworks, raising is the name given to a construction in which a linguistic element that belongs semantically to subordinate clause is found as a constituent of a higher clause. ... Chasing is a technique used to work metal into a raised design or pattern. ... (De)soldering a contact from a wire. ... Etching is an intaglio method of printmaking in which the image is incised into the surface of a metal plate using an acid. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ...

However, a great deal of handmade jewelry is created without utilising even these techniques. Instead many jewelry makers create pieces entirely by hand with the assistance of basic hand tools, for instance wrapping gemstones and beads in wire or creating simple strands of beads for necklaces or bracelets. For the Gemstone as a mineral see Gemstone. ...

Handmade jewelry makers utilize many types of metals and gemstones in their work, from gold to bronze, diamonds to cubic zirconia. Many contemporary jewelry artists make use of even more diverse materials such as paper, textiles, plastics and much more. In fact this type of jewelry, gains more and more in popularity. At the high end, where jewelry is made by the world's most renowned independent goldsmiths, desginers and gem carvers -- not necessarily working at the typical jewelry brands -- handmade jewelry competes with the A-brands as a way to distinguish oneself. At the low end, originality and the fact it was made and sold locally, as opposed to mass-produced jewelry made abroad, and sold at the large retailers, is one of the more important reasons for its momentum. General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ... Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ... Diamonds () is one of the four suits found in playing cards. ... A round brilliant-cut cubic zirconia Cubic zirconia (or CZ) is zirconium oxide (ZrO2), a mineral that is extremely rare in nature but is widely synthesized for use as a diamond simulant. ...

External links

• Ganoksin - complete gem and jewelry making information resource
• Gem and Diamond Foundation
• Metalcyberspace