1. You get what you pay for. While most handcrafted jewelry is more expensive than store-bought jewelry, it is also typically better constructed and crafted from better materials. Cheap jewelry requires the use of cheap materials and fast—often careless—labor.

2. Human Touch. Most people value goods which are handmade over those which are machine-made or produced by nameless people in factories. Cheap jewelry does not become a family heirloom the way handcrafted jewelry does.

3. Sweat shops. Mass-produced jewelry is typically made in factories with poor working conditions, where labor laws and safety codes are often violated. When you buy an artisan turquoise bracelet from an independent craftsman, you can be assured that your money is not going to further fuel child labor or sweat shops.

4. Microeconomics. When you support an independent craftsman or a company like Tikanchay that supports them you are supporting people, not large businesses. You money doesn’t go to a rich CEO or celebrity spokesmodel; it benefits the person who made the jewelry.

5. A Living Wage. If you examine a $5 department store bracelet and calculate the store’s markup, the middle-man’s markup, the transportation costs, the material and overhead costs, and then the worker’s labor, you can assume that the person who made it received no more than a few pennies for her labor. For those of us with the ability to choose socially conscientious purchases, choosing artisan jewelry produced by individual craftsmen is a way to enjoy the luxuries of our lives while sharing in the good fortune we have, ensuring that others can enjoy a living wage.