What Kinds Of Jewelry Are There? A “Now” Edition.
We as a whole know fashion and are fine at this point, however, there have been a couple of updates in the past decade (finally). What are the different jewelry categories now? And how to differentiate them, especially assuming someone is claiming one for another? Here is a breakdown.
Fashion Jewelry
Fashion jewelry is what everyone probably runs into each day since it’s all over the place – from department stores to fast fashion chains to box chains to independent stores. Fashion jewelry is more pattern based (recall that patterns can be both statement and dainty) and often made with reasonable materials. Fashion jewelry is often gold plated or electroplated and gold filled (higher end than gold plated), and the stones utilized in these pieces can range from very baseline paste stones to thwarted glass to upper-range Swarovski crystals. This segues us to sticker costs: fashion jewelry has a tremendous range in the amount one can pay for it. On one hand, there are extremely modest choices (enter the subcategory of fast jewelry which are pieces manufactured in massive quantities with barely any emphasis on materials, craft, or plan) and on the other, there are costly choices if the fashion piece is coming from a branded creator where you are paying more for the name than for the jewelry piece itself.
Costume jewelry
Inseparable from fashion jewelry, costume jewelry is more often used to depict vintage pieces that are non-fine. Style-wise, costume generally alludes to something you can spruce up, so pieces are usually overlaid (gold plated) in really yellow gold and studded with brilliant replica gemstones.
Fine Jewelry
This category may have become sloppy in the open arena thanks to categories like demi-fine jewelry and gold filled, however, fine jewelry is easy to recognize. Fine jewelry is any jewelry made from valuable metals like strong gold or platinum utilizing certifiable gemstones (range of quality is another aspect yet we will not get into that here). Note that categorization is one thing, however quality and value are another: there are massive contrasts between a piece that is 9k gold and a piece that is 18k gold (we’ll distribute a post on materials soon so please stay tuned). The amount of material utilized is also important in deciding value, so pay attention to the gram weight. Finally, fine jewelry handmade by a local gem dealer versus from a famous brand will vary significantly in value because of heritage craft and whatever other mysteries these brands say they have (“our gold color is novel”). And obviously, there’s also handmade fine jewelry (for example, a ring that is cut from wires or sheets and then welded and cleaned and set) and cast fine jewelry (liquid metal is filled molds). Branded retailers will utilize the casting strategy while making their fine pieces and costs ought to mirror that.
Demi-fine or semi-fine jewelry
This is not a measurable standard that specialists use to categorize jewelry. Demi-fine jewelry has come into the jewelry jargon these past couple of years because of the ascent in creators or retailers utilizing this term to depict pieces that are made from a superior regarded metal like 925 real (instead of a material like brass or the tricky “blended metal”) and utilizations semi-valuable stones like rose quartz and topaz. A few retailers may try and categorize anything that is gold-filled or gold-plated as demi-fine however we figure the most ideal way to decide if something can be demi-fine is to categorize the base metal and stones utilized in the piece and choose if the piece is worth an upgraded sticker cost from fashion or fast jewelry yet underneath the cost of fine jewelry.
High Jewellry
Nobody has laid eyes on high jewelry pieces besides on television. Each high jewelry piece is elite and one-of-a-sort utilizing the highest quality materials (some of the time, significantly really rare diamonds and gemstones). The craft engaged with making a high jewelry piece is masterful, and there’s always a story behind these collectible pieces that are hailed as works of art. Cost? Starting from the low hundred thousand and can go up to millions. Be that as it may, don’t state us.
Alternative jewellry
We have yet to hear anyone say, “alternative jewelry”, yet we do hear “alternative metals” all the time. These are materials like titanium, tungsten carbide, stainless steel, ceramic, and cobalt. Historically, these materials have been utilized almost only in men’s jewelry for two reasons: 1) they’re harder to work with so dainty jewelry intended for ladies appeared to be unthinkable, and 2) men were less averse to the idea of non-fine metals. If we return to the historical utilization of titanium and tungsten as men’s wedding bands, the reasoning was that these two metals are areas of strength for very scratch-proof and make for great permanent yet relatively economical pieces.
They also have a certain look – titanium can come in black, gray, or silver while tungsten can be cleaned to a brilliant sparkle. Ceramics, then again, and in no way related to porcelain or clay, were historically utilized for their look as well. It was considered to be softer, allowing another surface amongst all the metal, yet it was also areas of strength for really reliable. For us, we went to alternative materials because we essentially didn’t want to work with fine metals and real gemstones – the history, eco, and ethical considerations weren’t worth it to us in any event, for reused gold.
Additionally, we wanted to make entirely affordable jewelry yet additionally high quality. High quality means many things, yet for us, it meant jewelry that didn’t break or color that didn’t wear off in that frame of mind as well as pieces that were skin-safe. Working with alternatives seemed like our smartest option.