Silver Jewelry Suppliers

Throughout history, there have been areas of the world renowned for specific products. Think of cuckoo clocks from the Black Forest in Germany, the fine glass artisans of Murano, Italy, and the list goes on.

Jewelry-making has had as many changes in location as it has techniques over the centuries. The early Egyptians made fantastic works in gold with precious and semiprecious stones mined from all over the world. Roman artisans created fine pieces of decorative jewelry that can be seen in museums around the world today. In the middle ages, Europe was ground zero for the world of jewelry and decorative arts.

Today, we look to the East as the source of most jewelry made for popular consumption.

The jewelry of India, drawing on the masterpieces of Mughal art like the Taj Mahal, are famous of their use of gemstones set in precious metals of silver and gold.

Thailand is now a force majeur in the world of designer silver trends. Using an ample supply of skilled labor, modern casting methods and easy access to world markets, Thailand supplies much of the world market for midrange silver jewelry.

Bali, long an enclave of artists, produces fantastic silverwork. Known for their attention to detail, Balinese artisans use filigree, shell, and traditional designs to create true masterpieces of silver jewelry, and to a lesser extent, gold jewelry.

Over the past several years, as in most other manufacturing niches, China has become a force to be reckoned with in the world jewelry markets. Using both handwork and state of the art machinery, the dynamo of the East produces a full range of jewelry, from inexpensive imitation fashion jewelry to midrange silver jewelry with and without gemstones, to high end silver, white gold and yellow gold pieces that incorporate precious stones, pearls and more.

Of course there are still "traditional" sources of silver and gold jewelry, Taxco, Mexico being one example, for the most part, the bulk of jewelry manufacturing, jewelry design have been moved to the far East.

Article by Mike McGinnis
sterling and wholesale silver jewelry by indiasilver.com