There are a lot of great jewelry designers out there whose artistic works have never seen a retail store or been featured in a jewelry magazine. Yet, their products are still well known from their following on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media websites. This article will cover three unique handmade jewelry ideas that you can use right now to create gifts or even start your small for-profit organization.
Wire wrapping techniques
Wire wrapping has been around for a long time. This method can create unique bracelets, necklaces, belts, and more. One of the most fun and accessible ways to get into wire wrapping is to start by wrapping something simple like a semi-precious stone.
A stone with a few flat surfaces will be easier to wrap than something with too many sharp or pointed edges. Your job will be easier if you can find a stone already fashioned into a pendant like a cabochon or a teardrop shape.
You will need:
- 4 pcs of 8 inches 20 gauge Round Wire (Any kind will do, but solid metals work best)
- 12 inches 28 gauge Round Wire
- 4ft 30 gauge Round Wire
- 3 – 6pcs 2mm Silver Beads
- Wire Cutters
- Chain Nose Pliers
- Round Nose Pliers
- Ruler
- Gemstone/semi-precious stone/or precious stone like an Emerald
- A small blow torch that can reach temperatures of over 1500 degrees. A torch is suitable for non-precious metals and precious metals like silver or gold.
An excellent stone to start with is a tear-shaped gemstone like a Lapis, Sodalite, or other. They are not expensive and a great way to practice before moving forward with more costly gemstones.
Starting with your thickest gauged wire. This wire is used to create the basket which will hold the stone. Secondly, you will need to bend the wires around the stone to make your unique basket design. Finally, you bind the large gauged wires together to finish the jewelry design. It is a little tricky at first, but it will become second nature once you get the hang of it. The video above will walk you through a typical wire wrapping design.
Unique Handmade Jewelry Ideas with Bracelets
The easiest way to start with bracelet making is to use predrilled beads. These are beads that already have holes in them. You can use nylon, wire, or thread to link your beads together. The fun comes in by mixing and matching the colors of different beads based on their spiritual benefits or colors.
Necklace Making
Necklaces making – the third and final unique jewelry idea is creating necklaces. Some of those that sell best are themes related to the ocean, Hawaii, Islands, or any kind of tropical theme. Use beads or charms like dolphins and gemstones such as Alexandrite, Amazonite, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Blue Lace Agate, Calcite, Celestite, Chrysocolla, Chrysoprase, and Clear Quartz. There are many other water gemstones, but these can get you going.
Typically will want to add one or two small charms to the necklace. Another option is to use one huge gemstone in the middle. Just keep in mind the larger the stones, the heavier the necklace. Too heavy, and it can become uncomfortable for the person wearing it.
Where to Sell Your Products.
Once you have a few products ready to sell, you can showcase them in a few ways.
Pop-up Shops are those little tables set up in parks or along the beach where people display their goods and sell them for set prices. You can be sure to get a lot of foot traffic and many questions. Most people who buy your goods will not have cash on hand to purchase your higher-priced goods, so be prepared to have a credit card reader available or only showcase $40 or less costly items.
Etsy – This website is a great place to try your hand at selling your own jewelry. The platform is easy to use. Etsy has all the tools, from accepting all types of credit cards to creating the shipping labels for you to ship out your products, and even helps you with scheduling a carrier pick up from your home. This is by far the easiest way to get up and running quickly. Plus, it is a lot of fun.
Another great thing about Etsy is the clientele is usually much more affluent. They will not blink an eye paying a bit more for a high-quality, handmade, unique item.
Pinterest – It is highly recommended for any handmade unique jewelry! Use it in conjunction with Etsy. Both women and men go to Pinterest to get ideas for new fashions, jewelry, and accessories. You have a good chance of someone finding your Pinterest pin and driving traffic to your Etsy listing. You will miss out on a lot of online traffic if you do not take advantage of Pinterest and what it has to offer.
Take a look at our article on Handmade Jewelry Websites and what we recommend as a selling platform.
Other platforms and ideas to sell handmade jewelry
eBay – This platform has been around for a very long time. If you sell higher-priced handmade jewelry, this is probably not the best platform to sell on. Most eBay buyers look for cheap, rock bottom prices instead of higher-end goods. You will get many people who will look, but conversion rates are usually low.
Unless you are a known brand like Gucci, Cartier, or others, this platform may not be the best for your handmade goods.
Jewelry influencers are great for helping your newly created jewelry get noticed fast. Now you may not be able to attract big named influencers like
@selenagomez
@arianagrande
@iamcardib
But there are plenty more out there that can help you get noticed. Look for influencers that have 100,000 followers or less.
One final place to look up is large big brand jewelers who may want to showcase a few of your designs.
How many Unique Handmade Jewelry Ideas do you need to start?
Starting is not all that hard. You do not need to replicate all your work. There are two ways to go about marketing your products. The first is to reproduce your handmade jewelry and warehouse your items, or you can make one-of-a-kind items and sell them at a higher price. There does exist a vast audience of buyers who appreciate one-of-a-kind items and will come back to your store to buy more.
When starting, have at least five items. Give your listing time to get indexed on the platform you are using and allow it to gain traction. You can expect one to three months of waiting before your items climb in ranking and traffic. You can accelerate this process significantly by using Pinterest and Etsy ad platform. The only caution here is to watch your spending. You can spend a lot of money quickly with zero results if you are not careful. Advertising on these platforms is an entirely different topic. I recommend taking a course in social media advertising before diving in.
What do you need to be successful online with Jewelry Making?
- The first thing you need is a high-quality product. Don’t skimp on materials or gemstones.
- Secondly, take out your apple or android phone and take some really nice and clear images. Do not post blurry or dull colors. Your products have to pop. Another option is to hire someone to do product photography for you, but that is expensive and not worth the investment when you first start.
- Thirdly, take a few photos of the product by itself and then a few lifestyle photos of your unique handmade jewelry. The best lifestyle photos either show the person’s face staring right at the camera wearing the jewelry or shots of only the jewelry without a face in it. Such as a bracelet on a woman’s wrist is a great lifestyle photo with no face involved. I particularly like taking pictures without a face because product photos and portrait photos are hard to mix without a professional doing the work. You have to create the perfect balance to not take away from the product you are selling.
These few tips can get you making unique jewelry and selling or gifting in no time. The market is still wide open for new jewelry designers. A steady income can come from the industry. Many jewelry designers make upwards of $5,000 to 10,000 dollars a month from selling from their website, Esty or Pinterest. Just like Charles Albert, you could be the next great designer. Good luck and happy jewelry-making.
If you love these tips, you will love our tips on finding your next best handmade jewelry store. You can read the article here.
Harmony handmade jewelry store that strives to be unique in who they work with and what they create. High-quality, uniqueness, and great customer service are what we are all about.
