About this guide
hawaiian.jewelry is a buyer's guide to Hawaiian jewelry. It explains what pieces cost, what the motifs mean, how to tell work made in Hawaiʻi from imports, and where to buy on each island. It is written in Hawaiʻi by people who make jewelry.
Our interest, stated plainly
We also make and sell Hawaiian jewelry, at shop.hawaiian.jewelry. That gives us an interest in what you buy, so we hold the guide to rules that keep it from becoming an advertisement:
- Our pieces are never the evidence. They are left out of the price survey, the makers directory and every comparison on the guide.
- We don't rank sellers. No "best of" lists, scores or "number one" picks. Directory listings are alphabetical.
- No one pays. We don't take payment for listings or mentions, and we don't use affiliate links.
- Our shop is labelled. Anything from our own shop on a guide page sits under "From our shop".
How we research
Prices. The price survey records publicly listed prices from Hawaiʻi jewelers, national retailers and marketplaces. A person opens each listing and checks the price, metal and width before it counts. We publish typical prices and ranges, never a single seller's price, and refresh the survey every quarter. The data is free to download under a CC BY 4.0 licence.
Makers and shops. Each directory listing comes from the business's own website and public records. "Where it's made" is quoted in the business's own words. We then ask the business to confirm its listing and mark the ones that have. Any business can ask us to correct or remove its listing.
Facts. We rely on primary sources where they exist: Hawaiʻi statutes and state agencies, federal rules, the University of Hawaiʻi and museums. Every page lists its sources at the end. Bench knowledge, such as how engraving is cut or how a band is sized, comes from our own work.
Hawaiian culture. We ask a Hawaiian cultural practitioner to review what we write about meanings, moʻolelo and protocol, and we correct anything they flag.
Law and tax. Pages that explain a law or tax rule cite it. They are general information, not legal or tax advice.
Dates. Each page shows when it was last updated. Where-to-buy pages also show when we last visited, once we have.
Photos
Photos on the guide are either our own or openly licensed images from Wikimedia Commons, used under their licences and credited under each photo with the photographer and licence. We don't use photos from other businesses' websites.
Corrections
If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us. We fix errors as soon as we've checked them and log every correction that changes a fact below.
No corrections yet.
Contact
Email aloha@hawaiian.jewelry. Businesses can use the same address to be listed, to update a listing or to have one removed.