Handmade or Handcrafted?

With the price rises of Silver I want to create some blogs explaining jewellery terms or words being used to make you aware of what you are buying & clever marketing strategies.

Recently a well known high street brand (which I also own) was claiming they were ditching silver & using platinum, keeping their current price the same! I was very intrigued, however upon closer inspection this was not the case. They were using alloys, not even copper & plating those alloys with platinum disguising them! Resulting in customers paying the price of something that over time will vanish (plating) and having items that result in green skin & allergic reactions. Now I appreciate we are all adapting to the price increase of silver but lying to your customers is not acceptable.

In this blog I am highlighting the differences between handmade & handcrafted which until recently I also was under the assumption that these were the same!

Handmade is simply as it is spelt, every detail is made by hand. From the start to the end, the little jobs in between you don’t see like filing, measuring, shaping, polishing etc all done by hand, the traditional approach if you like.

In terms of jewellery, I have used a pair of pearl studs as an example on my social media. Check it out here on Instagram

I measure & cut a silver disc that holds the back of the pearl, then I shape the disc to create a cup so the pearl sits in it perfectly. Next I measure and solder the earring stem to it, followed by the pin for the pearl to attach to. Then comes the glow up, the polishing, filing etc. Then I fit the peal & set it in place. A long process we can agree?

Handcrafted however skips all of that! You would simply by the silver stem and set the pearl to it & job done!

Why not just handcraft it you ask? I ask myself the same question, especially seeing it on paper now. There is a beauty in the process of making every detail by hand, a higher quality & I have trained so hard to learn these skills. I believe there is a feeling for the customer that comes with my pieces too, knowing their jewellery is handmade. The highest care and details are taken with each piece than simply gluing two pieces together. Do you agree?

Now I am not against handcrafted, hear me out. There is a place for every type of jewellery, handcrafted can suit a smaller budget too making more affordable jewellery. It’s a great option for time saving too! It’s a great hobby, business or even an entrance to jewellery making too, which I am always here to support. I just want to make you aware of how wording can be used to sell items and give us an impression of what we are buying and sometimes not a full understanding of the process.

I can promise all of my jewellery is handmade here at Bridget Rose. The only elements I buy is chains & butterfly backs for earrings. I do this one to keep the cost of the item down & secondly these are changeable elements. I put my time & skills into the main piece where you need and want the handmade quality. I am more than happy to make your chain by hand or your earring backs at request.

My hope is this blog makes you aware of wording & marketing when buying products. These terms can be used across different products too not just jewellery. Also to give an understanding of the handmade process, the higher price point & my reason why.

Will this make you think differently when buying products in the future? I would love to know your thoughts. Also let me know what you would like me to discuss next in this series.

Until next time.

Sian