What Does Handcrafted Jewelry Mean?

The word handmade appears on a great deal of jewelry today, so it is fair to ask what handcrafted jewelry really means. At Lapis Lazuli World it describes a way of working that our family has followed since 1972, when the workshop was founded in Santiago, Chile. Every piece passes through the hands of skilled artisans, from the first sketch to the final polish, and because we work with natural stones, no two pieces are ever exactly alike.

Handcrafted Versus Mass Produced

Mass-produced jewelry is made in large runs, with machines stamping metal and setting identical stones as quickly as possible. Handcrafted jewelry still uses tools and molds, but the decisive steps depend on human judgment: choosing each stone, cutting it to fit, fitting it into the metal and finishing the piece until it is right. The result carries the small, natural variations that show a person made it.

How Our Pieces Are Made

1. Design

Every piece begins as a design. Our team draws on classic jewelry forms, the symbols and cultures that inspire our collections and, very often, ideas from our customers. The design is refined until it is both beautiful and strong enough to be worn every day.

2. Model and Casting

A jeweler carves a model of the design in wax. This model is used to create a mold, and molten metal is poured in to form the piece. We work in 950 sterling silver, which contains 95 percent pure silver, as well as 18K and 14K gold and gold vermeil. Once cooled, the rough casting is cleaned, filed and shaped by hand. You can read more about our metals in our guides to sterling silver and gold karats.

3. Cutting the Stone

While the metal is being prepared, our lapidaries select and cut the stones. Most of our lapis lazuli comes from Chile’s lapis mine in the Andes, and we also work with lapis from Afghanistan. Each stone is chosen for its color and character, then cut and ground by hand to fit its setting precisely.

4. Inlay and Setting

Much of our work uses inlay, a technique in which pieces of stone are fitted into recesses in the metal so that stone and silver form one smooth surface. Other pieces use cabochons held in a bezel, a metal rim that frames the stone like a picture. Both require patience and precision, as you can see in our inlaid silver bands. Our guide to stone shapes and settings explains the options in more detail.

5. Finishing and Inspection

Finally, each piece is polished by hand to bring out the shine of the metal and the depth of the stone. Before it leaves the workshop it is inspected closely, checking every edge, setting and surface.

The People Behind the Pieces

Today 16 full-time artisans work in our Santiago workshops. Our own artisan training program passes traditional skills on to a new generation and helps keep the art of Chilean lapis lazuli jewelry alive. Because we make what we sell, we can also offer things a factory cannot, such as rings made in any size. Learn more about our methods in our design techniques.

When you wear a handcrafted piece, you are wearing many hours of careful work and the experience of a family workshop with more than fifty years of history. We hope you will enjoy discovering our lapis lazuli rings and the rest of our collections, each one made by hand in Santiago.