First off, you see all these listings online, right? “Balenciaga vintage jewelry,” “handmade unique jewelry,” “Balenciaga jewelry for women” from places like Mytheresa and SSENSE. And then you got Nordstrom thrown in there with “fashion, fine, and designer jewelry” which… okay, Nordstrom sells *everything*, so that’s not *exactly* groundbreaking.
But the *handmade* part? That’s where it gets a little blurry, y’know? Like, is Balenciaga *actually* sitting there, stitching beads on stuff by hand? Probably not. I mean, they’re a huge fashion house. More likely, it’s either smaller boutiques selling *inspired by* Balenciaga stuff (which they can’t *really* say is Balenciaga, can they?), or it’s stuff that’s *mostly* machine-made with maybe a *touch* of human intervention. A little hand-finishing, perhaps? I dunno. It’s all a bit…vague.
Then you have places like “Jewelry by Moon Magic” (which, let’s be honest, sounds *way* more mystical than Balenciaga) pushing their pendant necklaces. Are they officially sanctioned Balenciaga? Doubt it. Probably just cool, inspired pieces. Which, hey, nothing wrong with that! But calling it “handmade Balenciaga” feels…a *little* bit misleading. It’s like saying your homemade pizza is “authentic Italian cuisine” just because you used mozzarella.
And then there’s this “Selene” thing, talking about 18K white gold and diamonds. Sounds fancy, sounds expensive, but it doesn’t necessarily scream “Balenciaga” to me. They’re just fancy materials. It’s the *design* that makes Balenciaga, right? Unless… unless Selene is a specific Balenciaga line I’m completely missing. Oh God, am I missing something huge? (Probably.)
Okay, so my take? “Handmade Balenciaga Jewelry” is probably a catch-all term for a few different things:
* Vintage Balenciaga: Actual, legit Balenciaga pieces from way back when, which might have had more handcrafting involved (who knows?).
* Balenciaga-inspired handmade stuff: Smaller shops or artists making pieces that *look* like Balenciaga, but aren’t officially branded.
* High-end jewelry with a “Balenciaga vibe”: Expensive materials, modern designs, maybe vaguely reminiscent of Balenciaga’s overall aesthetic, but not actually made by them.
* And probably, a healthy dose of just plain marketing hype.
