Handmade vs Cast Jewelry: Why Custom Craftsmanship Matters in 2025

This is written from my perspective as a small jeweler.

This, and all other prior articles were written by me, Halyna Viktoria, and only me.

This topic is very close to my heart. I don’t use CAD (computer assisted design), 3D printing or casting in my jewelry making. It does have a place in the industry, however, hand fabricated jewelry has greater potential to last longer.

My very favorite benefit of handmade is the superior structural integrity compared to casted jewelry. When we hand work the metal, such as silver, gold, or platinum, we compress the metal, making it denser, harder and heavier. Compared to most commercial casted jewelry, it is more scratch resistant and less flexible, potentially preventing bending and breakage of your expensive accessories. Now that I think about it, this may actually save you money on repairs in the long run.

Casting jewelry can create gas porosity or shrinkage porosity. They can show up as pockets of air that can destabilize the piece. They are especially problematic because they are mostly not visible and are internal, causing issues during the lifespan of your jewelry, potentially reducing it.

I'll give you an example: let's say your ring was casted and there was a bubble in a prong that holds your 3ct diamond. After just a year of wearing it, you look over and your finger is bare: only three and a half prongs with the golden skeleton of what resembles the ring setting left, diamond gone, and your heart drops to the floor.

These casted defects can appear anywhere in your casted jewelry: the ring band, chain jumpring, gallery under your gemstone, prongs, you name it. You can imagine what kind of trouble they can cause.

Porosity, cracks, sink marks, surface defects, etc. that are caused by casting can be on the surface and visible, potentially making jewelers take questionable approaches to cover them. Some of them can include adding a lower purity metal that melts faster than the metal piece, called solder. This may cause discoloration in the future, or excessive burnishing, which may thin and deform the piece.

When working with metal from the start, I must shape it to what I need to create your piece, making annealing, hammering, rolling, bending, and other methods an inherent part of the process. This is what gives the finished jewelry the compression of molecules that increases the structural integrity, allowing your true hand crafted jewelry to last a really long time without having to worry about losing it or constantly needing to repair it.

When a jeweler is making your piece using casting and 3D printing methods, they may limit the number of changes and alterations you can make. This is mostly because they had to print the piece in wax, then cast it. Any additional changed would require the same process, which can lead to extra cost to you as well as a waste of resources such as the running of 3D printers, the wax it uses to reprint the jewelry containing the changes, the kiln that heats up the metal, investment used to create a mold and much more.

When your jeweler makes it by hand, often times they have the ability to customize and make small changes as they are constructing your piece of jewelry, without the excess waste, cost and agitation.

Mixed metals such as gold and blackened silver, yellow gold and platinum, and others, can only be combined and secured by hand. If you're wanting dainty jewelry I 100% recommend handmade only.

We as jewelers know the pieces we work on inside out; we polish every square millimeter, we know exactly what and how we made it. When you request a project with me or you make a purchase from my available work, you also get direct access to me: the person who made it, to answer any questions. Casted jewelry can have several people in between you and your piece of jewelry, making the narrowing down of issues significantly harder. Same goes with taking accountability if something goes wrong or breaks. Good luck trying to convince your jeweler it wasn’t your fault.

Now, I know I will be ruffling some feathers with the following question: what is "handmade"? This term has been so diluted that it lost its meaning because everyone wants to label their work handmade, even when it's not. I will die on this hill and argue till the end of times: hand carved is not handmade. I'll get the facts and sources out of the way first.

FTC:

"It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is handmade or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product."

"As used herein, 'raw materials' include bulk sheet, strip, wire, precious metal clays, ingots, casting grain, and similar items that have not been cut, shaped, or formed into jewelry parts, semi-finished parts, or blanks."

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/23.2

Why is the definition important to you as a customer?

Well, to start with is the price. You never want to pay handmade prices for casted quality. Quality itself of course, giving you the right to choose the issues that might arise with casted jewelry, ensure that the makers are following federal rules and are not being deceptive, and much more.

It is so important for jewelers to clarify what kind of work they create. Handmade is pretty specific. Misleading the type of product that is being sold harms the customers and makers of truly handmade products. Oh yeah, and makers and businesses claiming handmade deceptively can be fined and face penalties.

How to make sure the jewelry is handmade?

Look for unique variations and irregularities in craftsmanship such as light tool markings and slight asymmetry. Handcrafted jewelry will be slightly heavier. Ask the maker: I can tell you exactly how I made something, as well as provide photos/videos of pieces being made, just an example. Research the reputation of the maker you wish to work with. I gladly show my studio, tools, and means of production.

Now, what is casted jewelry good for?

Everything has its place in this world, casted jewelry included. Casting is great for mass production of identical pieces and is cost effective for large companies. I would think that that's why we see so many "cookie cutter" designs. It is also great for very complex and intricate designs that could be harder to achieve by hand.

Quite a few of you were excited to find out the topic, I really hope you enjoyed the read. Any feedback, questions, comments, concerns go here: halyna@hvjewelry.com .

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