DIY Handmade Jewelry Design

Men and women have adorned themselves with handmade jewelry since long before the age of reason. Garlands of flowers, bracelets of woven grass, shells, and stone; such were the first decorations to beautify the human body. We may have been wearing jewelry as far back as 75,000 years ago -- 30,000 years earlier than previously believed -- according to a recent report by National Geographic News.

Over the millennia, jewelry styles and materials have evolved in step with the advances of civilization. From the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, from the Iron Age to the Industrial Revolution (and seemingly back again!), styles have transformed, modernized, and then often returned to their most basic forms and essential elements.

Today, jewelry is primarily machine made, allowing manufacturers to produce uniform jewelry designs much more economically than traditional handcrafting and hand-casting techniques allow. Casting machines now quickly process into uniform molds such components as metals, plastics, and resins, allowing even complex jewelry designs to be produced with speed and uniformity. Mechanical punch presses and forges, likewise, are also commonly employed in the jewelry manufacturing industry today, to help ensure the production of a consistent, highly profitable product.

In the past decade, however, the modern marketplace has experienced a resurgence of interest in handmade jewelry, and a greater value is again being placed on unique and limited edition jewelry designs, made by hand with ancient crafting processes.

With this renewed demand, jewelry artisans the world over are enjoying improved sales and recognition for their talents and skills. Many specialty galleries -- and even major department stores -- now feature an increasing array of handmade jewelry. With the advent and spread of the Internet as a sales tool worldwide, many international jewelry artisans, even located in remote regions, are also enjoying the benefits of direct sales to distant customers.

Novica hosts the largest handmade jewelry marketplace on the Internet, featuring some 15,000 unique designs, direct from master artisans in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Regina Bimadona, director of Novica's regional office in Bali, herself a jewelry artist, works closely with master jewelers in Bali and Java, helping them bring their collections, and the unique stories behind those collections, to appreciative customers worldwide. Bimadona specializes in assisting jewelers who still create limited-edition collections with traditional, handmade techniques.