Handmade and Original Custom Jewelry: How to Shop Our Site
Custom? Commissioned? In stock? So…you want a piece of handmade Hunt Country jewelry, there are many avenues!
Avenue One: Original Handmade 18K and Platinum Jewelry
This is our in stock inventory; these pieces are all Hunt Country designs– handmade by us right here in Virginia. Many will feature gemstones cut by our very own Claire; we try to note which stones are cut by us or have our patterns in the product descriptions. These pieces are one of a kind-ish; design elements and combinations we use in our work, but unique in their gemstones, sizes, metals colors. We can sometimes recreate a similar look, but no two pieces are exactly the same. These babies are in stock, ready to be sized and shipped/picked up. They can be purchased via the site, in our store, or over the phone. We create about 100 new pieces of handmade original jewelry in 18k gold and platinum every year.
Avenue Two: Custom Commissioned Jewelry
Custom commissioned jewelry doesn’t exist yet; except maybe in your mind’s eye! These pieces are created in collaboration with you from start to finish. So we start with a design consultation, choose stones (yours or ours or both!), develop design details, work up an estimate, carve your wax, get your approval, cast, set, and finish your piece of handmade custom jewelry! This process takes between 8-12 weeks to complete, so plan early! We can collaborate throughout the process via email and phone conversations, FaceTime or in store and in person. In store and in person is by far the smoothest and quickest way, but we’re well experienced in long distance design too. Plan for about an hour for the design consultation and be prepared to answer about 17 thousand questions!
Avenue Three: Hunt Country Silver
Available only in our store (or via phone, if something catches your eye over on the ‘gram!), Hunt Country Silver is, as the name implies, a collection of some of our most popular designs in sterling silver. These are all our original designs and they feature genuine gemstones in a variety of colors. Someday these will be available through the site, but that day is not today. Sometimes we can customize the gemstone colors or the earring tops or the chains, sometimes we can’t. You can see the start of our efforts to organize and upload our sterling pieces under the Jewelry Collections tab in the menu- these are collections and suites that are made to order in your choice of metal and stones. These pieces are produced in 10-14 days.
But what are all those other pictures and sections on the site? Our Galleries are examples of our work from over the years, both inventory and commissioned work. With over 3,000 molds of original pieces not everything we’ve made is up, but it’s a great place to start to look around at design elements and see what catches your fancy! 2017 Goal: Actually use the negative scanner we own to digitize the thousands of deep dark pre digital photos we have a get them up here for your enjoyment!
And, how, exactly do you find the details for all these lovely photos- it’s not a dumb question, it took me a minute and some serious clicking around to figure it out! Hover over the photo and click on the little link icon- it will take you to the page for that piece and allow you to add it to your Wish List, add it to your cart, etc. We’ve tried to update this- we can’t, but it’s not difficult once you know where it is!
So now you know and there is nothing to impede adding a piece of handmade custom Hunt Country Jewelry to your collection!
