I have been doing some research looking around the web at items that are labeled 'hand crafted jewelry' and there is quite a wide variety! I thought I would begin using this blog to talk about handmade (handcrafted) jewelry. In the case of the jewelry I create and make for my customers at www.paysonjewelry.com and www.transformationaljewelry.com , I use a variety of handcrafting jewelry techniques. In most instances, the jewelry on the www.paysonjewelry.com site I use hand carving techniques - either wax carving or hand engraving or hand carving, which is done directly in the metal. I have also been trained in some unusual hand sculpting processes, as well as chasing (a process where small handmade tools are used to push metal and texture it). 

For hand carved jewelry pieces, where the techniques are performed directly in the metal, often each piece is made individually (vs. the lost wax casting method I will explain another day).  In some cases a casting can be used to provide a basic layout for the design, but each piece must be re-worked and re-carved almost completely or it looses much of it's design. And, in some cases, it is impossible to do anything other than starting completely from scratch - hand drawing the design and then engraving or carving it using only hand techniques. Some of the designs in the collection shown at Payson Jewelry can take up to 40 hours to complete.

More on Wax Carving and Lost Wax Casting in the next entry...