Handmade Jewelry

The world’s finest jewelry is handmade, one piece at a time. To be considered “Handmade Jewelry” it item must be fabricated from raw metal by a jewelry artisan, using only tools that are controlled by hand. The lost art of jewelry making fine handmade jewelry requires highly skilled labor to manually control tools and to transform precious metals and gemstones into works of art. It is for this reason that jewelry connoisseurs everywhere know handmade jewelry is the benchmark for craftsmanship in fine jewelry.

The traditional use of molds and casting prefabricated parts are forfeited in the spirit of old world craftsmanship. In our shop raw gold and platinum are alloyed and barred. The precious metal bars are then wrought and forged into the desired shapes which are then formed into miniature parts and settings. These precision pieces are then soldered and welded at extreme temperatures by the steady hands of master model makers skilled in the art of jewelry fabrication.

Created from a single piece of precious metal that is hand rolled with mills and pulled through draw plates, the metal is then filed ground and tooled. The completed handmade model will undergo jewelry polishing to prepare it for stone setting. Once polished expert stone setters hand cut seats into prongs and metal walls to support the gems. The stones are then seated and meticulously secured by the hands of a master stone setter. In the end, the resulting handmade jewelry is completed in the same way as it was created for royalty throughout the ages.

In these days of mass production, master jewelers and model makers are a rare commodity. We are happy to report that the lost art of creating handmade jewelry is alive and well in the workshop at TOSOTO&Esther. Creating jewelry by hand from platinum, gold, diamonds and precious gems is the life ambition of our jewelers. These talented artisans have been making precious handmade jewelry in our studio in Danbury, Connecticut since we opened our doors in 1980.