What constitutes "Handmade" jewellery

[Lou]

Hi Everyone,
Hope you're all ok?

Your opinions please...

So what constitues "handmade" jewellery. I've been making jewellery for the past few years buying both handmade beads and machine made beads. When I sell pieces I will describe them in accordance with the beads I've used. So if all beads are handmade I will advertise the piece as handmade if I've used machine made beads I will advertise the piece as hand finished as in my opinion it would be untrue to say the piece is handmade.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
Take care,
Lou

[wabbit]

Good question! Personally I would class both as handmade as you have made them both, even with machine made beads you have decided type colour etc. You have made the actual item (necklace etc.) with your hands rather than a machine putting them together.

I do know of a craft fair organiser that doesn't accept jewellery unless the person has also made the beads, they describe jewellery made with machine made beads as 'hand assembled' and therefore not accetable for their fairs.

I don't make jewellery tho so I am sure others will have different opinion.

[swirlyarts]

I would agree with wabbit and say that both are handmade - although I only make plastic jewellery at the moment so can't comment really on the bead side of it. I'm sure someone else will be along in a mo.

[Lou]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies.

Up until know as I said below I've been advertising my jewellery in accordance with the beads I've used.
So many people I speak to use mass produced beads but class their stuff as handmade... I'm in 2 minds. Should all my piece be classed as handmade even where machine made beads are used!? I'm having my website built at the moment and still can't decide on how they should be described 'hand finished' or handmade'.

A friend of mine makes her own beads for jewellery makers like us and it drives her crazy to see mass produced beads used in product that is advertised as 'handmade' where it should be 'hand assembled/finished' as not everything in the piece is actually 'handmade'.

As you can probably tell this is driving me crazy. I can't decide which is right or wrong!?!

I feel a duty to bead makers to advertise 'handmade' only when I've used 'handmade' and 'hand finished' when I've used mass produced beads.

More opinions please guys :) :)
Help me! lol

Thanks,
Lou

[Billy]

You make the jewellery by hand. Handmade.

At the end of the day, it's the jewellery you're selling, not the beads!

[Lou]

Hey,
I'm not sure its that simple.

When I buy jewellery I'm always prepaired to pay more for a piece that has used handmade beads, as I know I'm getting great craftsman ship with originality. I think the handmaking process of beads is far more impressive than a machine churning out hundreds of the same thing. I'm not saying you can't make stunning jewellery with machine made beads. I use them in my pieces and am very happy with them.
The beads you use make up the over all look of your piece so the beads (of course your design will have an impact here) you use help sell your piece.

:)

[bande179]

What about solving the issue, by including a small tag with your jewellery (or in your web description) that says something like:

"Handmade by Lou, using (i'm making it up here!) Czech seed beads, Swarowski Crystals, Large focal pendant made by xxxx of xxxx, and sterling silver findings"

That way you'd be giving credit to the independent bead makers/lampworkers you're using and putting your mind at rest, and letting those people who have a set view of what constitutes handmade make up their own minds. If they like the piece enough they'll buy it anyway!

That's my two pennies worth!

James

[beadsbydesign]

This issue is about the beads rather than the jewellery.
This is one of those issues that goes round and round.
I think that education is the key to it though.
The terms I would use are mass produced as opposed to artist produced.
The beads that are handcrafted on a very individual basis like your friend makes, The time and patience that goes into these beads is large. The same skills and processes are used in mass producing beads in factories, however, that is where the processes stop being the same.
The artist bead is finished to a high standard with the hot processes being applied with far more care. They are then annealed (thermostatically cooled over a long period of time in a kiln, which stops fracture lines etc)
Mass produced beads made in India and China etc are exactly that, made fast and are not annealed (some may be, but on the whole they do not have the fascilites to do so) They are not produced in machines!
There are beads that are pressed glass, many czech glass beads are also made by this process. Molten glass is pressed into moulds. That is as near to machine production as it gets, but again, the beads can be annealed or not depending upon the standards adhered to. Artists also make pressed beads but rather than the group mould used in factories, the glass artist uses smaller single presses.
The cost of a set of artist made beads can be expensive (the cost varies from £5 or £6 for a focal and accent beads at the lower end to £50 or more depending upon the artists following)
the terms handcrafted and handmade and handfinished do not have any legal meaning. I am proud to say that all the jewellery I sell is MADE BY ME!. I don't think anyone expects me to have made the beads anymore than they expect me to have made the catches, clasps, chaiins, tiger tail etc. My skill comes in putting together the design.
If I am selling a jewellery item made with a artists bead, then I will point this out in the description.
Not everyone can afford the prices of artists beads and I for one do not think that this lessons their finished jewellery items. as long as they are not sold as artists beads!

[Lou]

Thanks guys thats brillaint. A little education for me too!

:)

[Pretty things]

I've thought very carefully about this post and I have rewritten it several times. I really don't want to annoy anyone but I'm quite upset by the topic and I have to reply.

My jewellery is hand made, because I make it myself, from choosing the beads, the wire, the findings, to designing the item, physically making it and choosing a box for it. I think 'hand finished' sounds as though the person has bought a ready-strung string of beads and stuck a clasp on.

I think I'm quite offended that my jewellery could be considered 'not hand made' just because I use beads I haven't physically made myself or which have not been hand made by a glass artist. Does this mean that to be considered 'hand made' everything in the item must be made by hand? This would include clasps, calottes, crimps, wire ..... I think as long as you are honest and open about the items you've used, then there is no problem with describing your work as hand made. My friend sells hand-made cards, that is, cards she's designed, painted, embossed etc herself. She didn't make the paper or the parchment she uses but they are still hand made.

If you ask most people what they understand by hand made, they will tell you it is an item that has been made by hand, not an item where all the components have been made by hand. There are enough people out there beating us up about our crafts and telling is they are not as good as mass produced items, we shouldn't be doing it to ourselves as well.

[Katianne]

I would totally agree - I class handmade as either using materials to make something to your own design or making the materials yourself and using them.

[icecreamgirl]

I agree with Pretty Things.
I sell Handmade Jewellery. I buy the materials, design a piece of jewellery and make it up.
There you go. A handmade, original piece of jewellery.
If you were going to say Handfinished you would have to apply it to all crafts not just jewellery.
My mum sells Handmade Handbags. She buys the material, designs a bag and makes it.
There you go. A handmade, original handbag. You would never consider calling it a 'handfinished' handbag would you?
As Billy said you have made the finished product by hand there fore it is handmade by you.
You would never go to the cake stall at the WI and say that the victoria sponge shouldn't be sold as handmade because the person selling it didn't grind the flour, raise the chickens and collect the eggs herself would you?

[Katianne]

You would never go to the cake stall at the WI and say that the victoria sponge shouldn't be sold as handmade because the person selling it didn't grind the flour, raise the chickens and collect the eggs herself would you?

Very true!!!! :)

[Apple Tree Crafts]

....what rubbish. You're doing yourself down by calling a piece of jewellery designed and made by you 'hand finished'. Your talent and your workmanship and your care went into that piece.

Hand finished suggests a mass produced piece that was then given a quick polish, or boxed up, by hand after the machine process.....it says nothing of what actually went into making the piece.

By the way, off topic I know but....did you know? Most of Clark's Shoes are made in Brazil or Portugal. They are then shipped over here and 'finished', popped into tissue & boxed. This 'finishing' process means that Clark's can put stickers on their shoes claiming that they are made in Britain.....that's soooooo cross-making...:mad:

Jules

[Solitaire]

Very interesting topic, I call mine Handcrafted

[indri]

I would describe my quilling as handmade and I don't actually make the paper - in fact I'm quite lazy and don't hand cut the paper either and buy it in the widths I need, saves time and I think looks better. Hand finished to me means that it's just been given a spit and a polish, maybe with the odd clasp stuck on by hand, but the rest of the design done by machine.

[colourart]

I agree that you should call your crafts hand-made, I often see mass produced paintings described as hand-painted which is total rubbish, yes they aren't prints but they are not one offs painted by an artist, they are produced in a factory like some many other items. Call your items handmade, I even think hand crafted sounds nice, don't matter some of the components aren't made by you.

[Lou]

Guys I'm sorry if I upset any of you - that certainly was not my intention!

You probably aren't going to like what I found on this subject but I thought I should share it anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handmade_jewelry

I know it says "many artists" and not all but, I used to buy findings etc when I first started out and always said my pieces were handfinished not handmade. Now I do make all of my findings, jumprings & beads (unless gemstones) and when I haven't made beads/findings my customer will be rest assured I have bought the finding/bead from someone who has handmade it & that artist will get a credit on my site.
I'm afraid I do feel slightly robbed when I see others buying beads/findings etc advertising it as handmade when infact it isn't all handmade! It's hand assembled/handfinished...

.... I've tried looking at it as all our jewellery is handmade but I still think something needs to be distinguished between the 2.
I can spend weeks on a piece making the findings & beads then putting it together because I want to sell handmade product!

I'm not sayin there is anything wrong with buying mass produced beads & findings and it certainly does not make your product inadequate in any way shape or form but I do feel it is not being advertised correctly.
Maybe I'm advertising wrong... maybe there's another word for what I do? I'm sure what I do is handmake jewellery :confused:

Really no offence intended.

[mjbelkin]

But let's face it, that is on Wikipedia, which can be edited by anyone.

There is absolutely nothing to stop me editing that particular page and saying "Handmade jewellery is only made by me" :mummy:

I think 'Handmade' is the correct term for what I make, and I don't make any of my own findings, I don't coil my own jumprings, but you have to decide for yourself. When I did dressmaking, I didn't weave my own fabrics, I bought them.

As far as I'm concerned, 'Handmade' means you have taken a selection of materials and combined them in your own creation. You may do that once, or fifty times, although due to the non-mechanical nature, there will always be subtle differences.

If we want to get really petty on the term handmade, then surely everything should be made using hands only and no tools - no pliers, wire cutters, etc. Also, if you have to make every component, then your wonderful handmade necklace will not be affordable, or will be of such a price that the buyer would expect diamonds.

Just my thoughts.

[beadsbydesign]

Don't you use threading materials eg. tiger tail or nymo etc?



SO a jumper cannot be handmade unless you cut the fleece, washed and carded the wool yourself, then spun and finally knitted the garment?

or

a cake cannot be handmade unless you sowed the corn, reeped the corn, milled the corn and layed the eggs yourself, grew the sugar beat and processed it and then built the fire on which to cook it?

a card cannot be handmade unless you makethe card yourself and any embellishment you put on it must also be totally made by yourself?

not everyone had the time, money and skills required to create beads and findings or indeed to buy them from lampwork artists. It would certainly price jewellery out of most peoples range.

Handmade jewellery what ever the componants is a work of artistic creation and design and as such the creator of it chooses the componants to use that work for their creation. A piece of jewellery is not better or worse because it is made with hand made findings etc. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone has their own taste. There is room for everyones taste and financial level.

Don't get lost in the handmade or completely handmade argument. We should be standing together against those who buy in then claim they made it themselves.

[Pretty things]

I'm afraid I do feel slightly robbed when I see others buying beads/findings etc advertising it as handmade when infact it isn't all handmade! It's hand assembled/handfinished...

Really no offence intended.

I'm sure you don't mean to offend anyone but you have offended me greatly. I do buy beads; Daniel Swarovski is much better at making crystals than I am so why should I make an inferior product. I buy Sterling Silver components because, again, the companies that make them are better at it than I. My jewellery is hand made - are you saying that I rob you by using that term?

The Wiki entry also said :

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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemstones) and beads in wire or creating simple strands of beads for necklaces or bracelets.
Handmade jewelry makers utilize many types of metals and gemstones in their work, from gold (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold) to bronze (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze), diamonds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamonds) to cubic zirconia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubic_zirconia). Many contemporary jewelry artists make use of even more diverse materials such as paper, textiles, plastics and much more.

There is no suggestion there that that I can see that says all those gemstones mentioned were hand dug, hand polished, hand facetted; or that the wire was hand spun from nuggets mined by the maker; nor that the contemporary artists make thier own plastic or paper.

Just as a matter of interest, on what do you string your work? Do you hand make that as well?

I really thought we had put this one to bed. I'm very sorry if I sound angry in this post but that is because I am. There are enough people in the big wide world rubbishing what we do, we don't need fellow crafters doing it as well.

[icecreamgirl]

The dictionary defines 'Handmade' as:
made by hand rather than machine.
So i am quite comfortable advertising my handmade jewellery as Handmade, because i am selling the finished product.
In other words i am advertising that the necklace/bracelet is Handmade.
I really think if you are making the whole thing yourself, all the findings, wire etc then not only do you deserve a medal, but you are selling to a totally different market to the majority, therefore you need to make sure people realise that you have done all that, as obviously your prices must be way above what is the norm and people will want to know why. But it's up to you to make sure that people realise all your findings and beads are handmade. It's not up to us to do that for you.
I sell handmade icecream at the shop, but i haven't handmade the strawberrys for the flavouring, so does that mean i'm telling lies to the customers? No i didn't think so either.

[Lou]

Thanks again for your opinions. All very helpful stuff!
You guys may well be right... I get such a mixed bag of opinions when I ask this. I find it very interesting!!

Again please don't be offended by my comments I'm one person in a huge world I really don't matter that much... none of us do! ;)