Anca's Jewelry

Humans started wearing jewelry thousands of years ago and psychologists say our need for personal adornment pertains to our desire for recognition and status. People wear earrings or necklaces to stand out from the crowd, jewelry acts as an agent of personality. What better way to stand out than wearing handmade jewelry, then?

Handmade is unique

We live in an era of mass-production and this includes jewelry, but if you wear the exact same bracelet ten other women bought last week can you still feel unique? When it is mass-produced, jewelry loses its fundamental purpose of letting us assert our individuality.

On the other hand, when you look at the displays in a handmade jewelry store you can easily see the artisan put a little bit of their soul in every item. Each piece has a special meaning and conveys a different message. Examine the stones in a pair of earrings and ask yourself why did the craftsman select a blue gem instead of a green one? Artisans like all artistic personalities try to capture a mood or a feeling and encapsulate it in a unique piece of jewelry.

If you take your time and look at all the items on display you will undoubtedly find a special item that speaks to you. The feeling the artist wanted to capture in a pair of earrings or a pendant resonates with you. It’s like that piece was created especially for you.

High-quality materials

Truly dedicated artisans work only with high-quality materials, whether we’re talking about silver, gold, or the many, many stones out there, each carrying its own special meaning. This is as much about you the customer, as it is about them.

A real artist will not feel comfortable using cheap materials as this would be betraying their artistic ideal. On the other hand, the relationship between a craftsman and a customer is closer, more personal. A handmade artist cares about you and your satisfaction. When you buy a handmade product you know the artist whose hands actually made that item, whereas when you buy mass-produced jewelry you get it from a salesgirl at a store who had nothing to do with the creation of that ring or necklace. The lady at the store doesn’t really care if you’re satisfied or not with the item or if you go home and discover those `stones` are nothing but colored glass.

And, yes, a craftsman cannot afford to disappoint, the success of their business depends on customer satisfaction.

Handmade is affordable

An artist putting a bit of his soul in a piece of jewelry, that should cost a lot, shouldn’t it? Actually, no because craftsmen have little overhead expenses. Since it’s handmade, they have no use for machines and don’t have electricity bills to worry about.

They do the work themselves and they can do that pretty much everywhere, maybe a small studio in the basement, as all that is truly needed is talent. And time!

A significant time investment

Artisans invest a lot of time in their jewelry using their intuition and all sorts of little instruments to create a small work of art. When you buy a handmade piece of jewelry you have no idea if the artisan spent one hour or two whole days working on that necklace and you’re not going to pay for that. How long it takes them to create a certain piece is their problem.

Maybe that very bracelet you’re looking at was almost ready when the artist realized it would look much better with a different kind of stone and started all over again.

That’s the life of a true artist, they sort of signed up for this, but, truth be told, customers rarely realize how much time the artisan invested in a piece of jewelry.

A unique gift for a unique person

When you’re looking for a gift, your first impulse is to go to a store, have a quick look around, pick something, whatever, and you’re done! You get points for not forgetting about her birthday and you’re pretty much safe for the next 12 months. But that is such a routine gesture, it really doesn’t say anything about your feelings for her. Or for him because men like jewelry too, ladies! If you go to all the trouble of finding a handmade store and select a piece of jewelry that conveys a special message then you’re really talking. Obviously, the best of thing you can do is to order a customized item, that’s a truly unique gift.

You took the time to find a craftsman, the artisan took some time to create that particular thing by hand – now that’s how you can really make someone feel special!

Buying handmade jewelry is the best way to assert your individuality, wearing something no one else has, you’re unique. At the same time, buying handmade means supporting independent artisans, talented craftsmen with a vision and a passion for beauty, artists who express their individuality in their jewelry designed to assert the individuality in you.