Homemade jewelry, which includes fashion jewelry and costume jewelry, has shown a positive uptick since before the pandemic. As a result, trends are positive for this market segment, especially for the female jewelry sector. This blog is for those who want ot start jewelry business in the near future.
Start Jewelry Business: Does Homemade Jewelry Sell Well?
According to current forecasts, the market for costume jewelry will grow at 7.80% over the next five years, and projections show that it will reach about $59 billion by 2027. With more than half of the total costume jewelry market going toward women, the market is expected to grow consistently per year.
When it comes to accessorizing an outfit, costume jewelry is a must-have. This jewelry makes full use of creative elements, like dog charms and peace charms. When compared to precious metals like gold, diamonds, and gemstones, the raw materials used to make this type of jewelry are made of less valuable materials. For example, glass, plastic, semi-precious stones, and beads are just some of the raw materials used in costume jewelry production.
Customers’ desire for fashionable and affordable jewelry is expected to fuel market expansion. While developed nations like the United States, Canada, and Germany have embraced costume jewelry to a greater extent, developing countries like China, Brazil, and India are quickly catching up.
If you’d like to “warm up” you can certainly try wiring and beaded creations from the comfort of home. Check out our guide!
Where Can I Make Jewelry to Sell?
You can start making fabulous handcrafted jewelry by partnering with reliable jewelry-making supplies.
Xinar has been selling jewelry-making supplies, jewelry-making accessories, beads, findings, and sterling silver charms for over twenty years. We have an extensive inventory of the essential beads and findings for making the most popular jewelry types in the market. You can read more about that here. The quality of our jewelry-making supplies is superior, and we take all the measures necessary to bring you only the best. When we say that our sterling silver charms are hypoallergenic, they are genuinely nickel-free and lead-free as per FTC standards.
Our gold-filled beads, on the other hand, were manufactured using an advanced technique that bonds genuine gold to the surface of high-quality jeweler’s brass. As a result, the gold is atomically bonded to the brass instead of direct physical bonding found in other gold-filled jewelry-making supplies.
How Do I Start Jewelry Business?
Today’s focus is on the production and design of jewelry, so we will talk about the different paths you can take as someone who wants to start a small jewelry business. Make sure that you read our guide on jewelry design considerations and jewelry design principles, so you are better informed.
If you have never purchased jewelry-making supplies in bulk, we have to warn you that there are some pretty strange offers out there, and 100% of them involves deceiving customers into buying because of “free shipping” when the truth is there is no such thing as free shipping. You can read more about that here.
OOAK Jewelry Production
OOAK jewelry-making is one of the most time-consuming yet also one of the most rewarding and adaptable methods of producing fine jewelry. Some methods of fine and OOAK jewelry production necessitate specialized training and certification and expensive equipment, depending on the materials and designs used. These are some of the ways:
- Soldering
- Silver/goldsmithing
- The process of casting a 3D printed object
- Working with leather tooling
- Gemstone work
You should consider free online tutorials if you’re unsure of the path you want to take. Then, once you’ve narrowed your focus, you can either take paid classes or work as an apprentice with a master craftsman to learn new skills. If you’re having trouble differentiating 925 sterling silver and plated silver, read this.
Costume and Fashion Jewelry Production
Creating costume jewelry is a simple process that doesn’t necessitate any special training or equipment other than a few essential hand tools.
It is easier to grow this type of business because you can buy in bulk and create templates for assembly by hired production staff, making it easier to scale. Consider outsourcing or hiring for other roles if you enjoy design and production to scale the creative work.
Factory-Outsourced Jewelry Production
You don’t have to make the jewelry yourself; you can have it completed by someone else. In the case of fashion jewelry, this isn’t ideal, but it can be cost-effective if you need to produce a lot of it. If you’re looking to outsource, you have two primary options:
Manufacturing in the Neighborhood (Going Local)
Pros
- The allure of “made in the USA.”
- Shipment may be faster or more reliable.
- Verifying a person’s reputation and establishing connections are made much more straightforward.
- More opportunities for monitoring (factory visits, anyone?)
Cons
- Increased price
- Fewer options (fewer manufacturers, limited materials)
- There may be a limit to how much can be produced.
Going Overseas (Way Beyond the Neighborhood)
Pros
- A reduction in the price
- When it comes to materials and processes, there are usually more options
- The ability to grow in size
Cons
- Barriers in the way of communication (cultural, language, time zones)
- Production carried out in a location other than the country of origin
- Less control and monitoring
- The cost of minimum orders may be prohibitive
- Depending on the country, manufacturing and ethical standards may differ.
- Your designs must be accurately sketched or rendered in 3D if a third party will manufacture them.
What You’ll Need Either Way
- Sketchbooks, pencils, paper, and jewelry design templates are just some of the things you’ll need to start jewelry business.
- You will need some pro-grade software – Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, among other apps.
- RhinoGold and MatrixGold are two of the best exemplary jewelry design programs available.
3D Jewelry Printing on Demand, Anyone?
Using a print-on-demand service is the most hands-off method to start jewelry business. 3D-printed or recreated replicas of your original designs in stainless steel, wood, plastic, or gold or silver are shipped directly to your customers. The profit margin may be smaller, but this might be a good idea if you don’t mind the slight cut in your bottom line.
Handcrafting and lost-wax casting have historically defined jewelry making. Both methods require a high level of technical expertise, are time-consuming, and can be costly if mistakes are made. However, digital design and 3D printing can potentially alter these age-old practices fundamentally. As a result, design and production options for jewelers and customers alike are expanding thanks to incorporating digital technology into long-established processes.
The advantages of a digital design and manufacturing process are combined with the principles of investment casting or lost wax casting in 3D printed jewelry production.
By hand carving the original pattern in wax and then placing it in a mold, jewelry designers can create a cast piece by pouring precious metals like gold or silver into the mold cavity. Designers use various techniques to bring out the cast piece’s final shine.
With CAD software tools and a high-resolution 3D printer, jewelers create digital designs cast in a mold using the digital workflow. The traditional investment casting procedure is followed the positive pattern has been exhausted. Time-consuming manual labor can be eliminated thanks to digital techniques, and the design itself can be easily preserved, modified, and recreated as needed.
Customized jewelry was previously an expensive luxury because of the difficulty of designing and producing it. The use of digital tools has allowed jewelers to incorporate personalized creations into their standard service or as an additional value-add. A custom-made engagement ring is often an option if you visit a jeweler today and ask for one.
In an hour, the customer will hold and try on a physical model of the ring designed by the jeweler. On-site digital design and 3D printing speed have dramatically reduced the feedback loop between designer and customer in jewelry retail.
Since hand carving a one-off is no longer necessary, moving from design to production has become easier and faster. In addition, loss-wax casting reduces the cost of custom 3D printed jewelry by a significant margin because the try-on pieces can be tailored to the customer’s specifications, 3D printed again and then manufactured accordingly.