by Jennifer Searle

Created on: October 29, 2007

Handcrafted artisan jewelry, in general, is always going to be better than mass produced fashion jewelry, or even retail jewelry store jewelry. There is such a wide range of jewelry artisans out there, who make simple low cost beaded necklaces, to high end gemstone, diamond, gold and silver jewelry.

A few of the best places to shop are RubyLane.com and Esty.com for real hand made artisan jewelry. Ebay can have some good deals, but often you will have to sift through thousands of pictures to find anything even worth looking at. Also the likelihood of accidentally buying mass produced "claimed as artisan" on ebay is pretty high.

Many jewelry artisans have their own website, so you use a search engine with "Handmade Artisan Jewelry" and come up with hundreds of sites. As a jewelry artist myself, I know some of them personally, like Eni Oken or Robbie Ward, who have produced books and have their own websites and groups. They produce their own jewelry lines and also in their link sections have links to many other artists websites.

When you go to buy artisan jewelry, you have to ask yourself some questions of what you want.

1. Are you looking for staple jewelry pieces to wear everyday with all different types of outfits?

2. What is your price range? Over $2000 for a single piece to under $50? There is a wide range of price categories for handmade jewelry, though good pieces will usually sell for over $100 because of the components used and the labor involved in making the piece.

3. What type of metals and stones are you looking for?

4. Do you want classic timeless pieces or fashionable trendy items that might only last one season?

5. What kind of jewelry will fit your life style?

Now once you have your answers in your mind you will be ready to start hunting for your perfect pieces. I can tell you that most artisans use Silver, fine and sterling, for their pieces. They also will use gold-filled, which means a hollow tube of gold filled with a base metal. This type of wire or components will not chip and flake like gold plated or dipped, however gold filled can be scratched easily. So if you are tough on your jewelry you might prefer to go with metals like titanium or silver, where you will not have any color change and stand up to regular wear.

Many wire artists have their own personal style, so it is important to look around at as many different artisans sites, shops, or booths (at craft fairs) as possible. Many do elegant and feminine, others do bold and funky, and still

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