Modern manufacturing processes are a large part of what has driven us into the modern day. The widespread availability of modern goods, from clothing to furniture to electronics, as for the most part facilitated by mass production. There is, of course, a trade-off. Whenever you get something that is mass produced, there is just a little bit less character with that item. For some things, that doesn’t matter: if you need to fill up your wardrobe, or get a dining room table and chair set, it really won’t matter that much how it was made. But if you’re getting something that’s supposed to be special, like jewelry, mass produced items can seem impersonal. Here are a few reasons why it’s better to get artisan crafted gemstone jewelry in Ohio.
Your Piece Will Be Unique
Jewelry is supposed to be an expression of yourself, or of something truly important. You get a wedding ring to signify your connectedness to another person, you wear a necklace that proclaims to the world part of who you are. Imagine you have a wedding ring that’s supposed to be truly special, and you meet someone with the exact same ring, only theirs is just something that they wear. It kind of undercuts the significance of the jewelry. When you get something that is handcrafted, you know you’re getting something that’s special and one of a kind.
Solid Craftsmanship
In the past, handmade items were generally lesser quality than manufactured ones. That’s because many simple household objects were made by someone in that house, and their expertise isn’t in object-making. Manufactured goods, on the other hand, were expensive and exotic and better crafted. Counterintuitively, as technology with manufacturing has increased, quality has actually gone down relative to handcrafted goods. Part of this is because the innovation has gone into making more stuff more efficiently, not necessarily better. Part is that cheaper materials like plastics might be more efficient to construct things out of, but not when it comes to longevity. However, a large part is simply that, nowadays, if something is handmade, it’s handmade by someone who really knows their trade. Jewelry is the same: handcrafted jewelry represents a solidness and an expertise that isn’t there with mass-produced jewelry.
Support Artists
At the end of the day, many people would rather contribute to an individual than to a massive company, and when you buy handcrafted goods, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Purchasing handcrafted jewelry supports the maker directly, and allows them to stay in business.
