If you are looking for a piece of jewelry for a special occassion or to spice up an outfit, it’s relatively easy to find places with a relatively large selection of jewelry.  For instance, Nordstrom carries hundreds of styles and brands of jewelry.  Some of them are true pieces of artisan jewlery and some mass produced or imported.  Make your way down the mall and your sure to pass by a “fine jewlery store” or two.  Turn the other way and you’ll pass by a franchized store or two that sells really cheap accessories that most likely wont even make it through your big night.  It’s not typical to find in the mall, but certain areas in cities and towns seem to house various small shops and boutiques.  Some, but not all feature local artists hadcrafted jewlery, but it can be hard to distinguish between something that is locally handmade and something that was imported from a catalog.  So, you can spend the day wandering around town looking for something that you have in mind, but it could be like finding a needle in a haystack to come up with something that is close to your “vision.”  Enter the Internet.  Why is the internet so great for buying jewlery?  Two reasons.  First, the wonderful thing about jewelry (and shoes) is that it’s not form fitting.  Clothes are a different ballgame.  Purchasing clothes from the internet can be risky bussiness because you never get a chance to try them on, and the the same blouse worn by two people who weigh the same and are the same height can look be a perfectfit to one and look terrible on the other.  This has mostly to do with body types.  You really need to try clothing on in most cases just to make sure it fits, if nothing else.  Jewelry on the other hand is not so specific to shape.  If a necklace is 17 inches long and your neck is 17 inches round, it’s safe to assume you are going to be wearing a choker and not a necklace.  Bracelets and rings fall under the same theory, and earrings are a “one size fits all” (unless you have gauged your ears).  So you have a type of jewelry in mind and you just ran around town for half of the day with no success.  Hop on your computer and google what you are thinking.  It’s like magic.  For instance, you are going to a casual summer garden party.  You want a bright piece of jewelry with a personal touch to spice up your outfit.  You could google something like “bright gemstone handmade jewlery.”  Bingo, you have just been given access to probably 100,000 jewlery shops and are taken directly to those shops “bright gemstone artisan jewelry.”  What could be more convenient?  Obviously, if you need this accessory by tommorow, the internet is not you cup of tea, but if you are willing to wait a week and pay a few dollars for shipping, there isn’t a better option out there.