Sustainability is a word we hear so often these days and for a very good reason. Now more than ever are jewellery brands making efforts to be more sustainable to not only leave you with a stunning new piece of jewellery, but one you can also feel good about buying! Sustainability is all about meeting our current needs without compromising future economic, environmental and social factors. Our designers have generally focused on three areas when looking to become more sustainable: The jewellery (materials and stones), the packaging and charity work. Lets talk through them..!
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“We’ve always been a conscious brand and want to continue our sustainability journey with our community, creating conversations with our customers, changemakers and supply chain to inspire actions that will benefit all of us, as well as being kind to people and planet”
Ruth Bewsey, Creative Director at Daisy London
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Jewellery (Stones, metals and suppliers)
The growing demand for jewellery to be more sustainable and ethical has lead to many of our designers choosing to use recycled metals. All Daisy London’s jewellery is made from 100% recycled silver and Claudia Bradby has vouched to use all recycled silver by the end of 2021.
Alex Monroe also use recycled materials as much as possible including, gold, silver, paper and plastics. They also ensure that all of their sparkly sapphires are ethically sourced and mined. These creations are not designed with high-fashion seasons in mind and are never trend-led, they are pieces that are special and made to last so they can be passed down for decades to come. V by Laura Vann are also very much in this mind set, each piece is made to be treasured for a lifetime and last both in terms of a timeless aesthetic and sustainable origin. Try switching up the chain of your v by Laura Vann pendant to a Rope chain or Figaro chain refresh your look. They too use recycled silver and ensure ethical production through rigorous auditing. In the Rachel Entwistle workshops, even the cut offs and metal dust is recycled!
V by Laura Vann Audrey Necklace £70-£115
The Responsible Jewellery Council are a non profit organisation which helps advance responsible ethical, social and environmental practices, and respect human rights throughout the jewellery supply chain. Astley Clarke and Tilly Sveaas both look to using suppliers who are members of this council. Tilly Sveaas have also received the Project Earth Certification from Selfridges, this shows the transparency between them as the producer and you guys as the shoppers.
Astrid & Miyu have chosen to use CVD diamonds in a bid to be more sustainable, these are man made diamonds that are created under controlled laboratory conditions and have essentially the same chemical composition and crystal structure as mined diamonds. But these ones are conflict free and sustainable, yet still super sparkly, glam and look gorgeous in your curated ear stack.
If you take a look in our much loved Daniella Draper cabinet you will see the use of recycled gold and Ecosilver. These are traceable alternatives to virgin metal which prevent them from contributing to the human or environmental problems that can sometimes be associated with mining. These are sourced in England making less environmental impact by minimising carbon emissions linked with material transportation. Daniella Draper are also proud to have been awarded the Butterfly Mark from Positive Luxury. This is a symbol of trust earned by brands that have adopted sustainability as a business strategy. Basically meaning, they’ve thought of everything!
Packaging
The arrival of the fancy new Alex Monroe packaging in to the boutique makes taking your new jewels home with you that bit even more exciting. These boxes are now made with a super soft bamboo covering on the inside to display the new handmade goodness and their next aim is to make the full box compostable. Alex Monroe along with many designers such as Daisy London and Astley Clarke use FSC certified paper for their boxes making it 100% recyclable - Not that it’s easy to throw these gorgeous boxes away, we are certainly guilty of having a bedroom drawer full of packing we cant bare to part with! These brands also like to work with their factories to ensure plastic use is limited during manufacturing and deliveries.
Daniella Draper have gone the extra mile and alongside encouraging customers to consider whether they need additional packaging, they are also testing local FSC certified paper choices and biodegradable packaging options. They offset all of their employees carbon emissions, over a 13-month period they have planted 6488 trees and saved the Co2 equivalent of 379 long haul flights and 1,224,437km driven in a car. Thats a lot of Holidays!
Charities
The amazing charities some of our brands support are talking points you lot love to hear about in the boutique when choosing your new jewels. Knowing Mishky trains and employs women from predominately low income communities makes buying your new colourful beaded bracelet that extra bit special. Its amazing knowing many of the of the artisan weavers are single mothers who have enrolled in the company’s My mom for me program, an initiative that encourages women to work from home in order to provide loving care, parental guidance and support to their children while still having a sustainable income. Mishky’s website says "Our hope is that you will wear our jewellery not only because it is beautiful, but because it will allow you to tell a story in which you are one of the lead players.”
You guys are going mad for Claudia Bradby’s new honey bee collection, the perfect summer addition to your jewellery box. Rebecca likes to wear the Large coin honeybee charm necklace, especially when the suns out paired with a floral maxi dress. What we also love about the collection is that every single sale supports the conservation of the native UK honey bee through The B4 Project via 1% where 1% of turnover annually is given to an environmental cause. This is inspired by Claudia’s beekeeping, reconnection to the power of nature, as well as the circularity of life – everything is connected, and nothing exists in isolation.
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“Sustainability is very important to me, and increasingly so to the consumer. We have to be aware of our impact on the world with all our choices, and I like to think that you give back what you take out so that a balance is kept.”
- Claudia Bradby
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Claudia Bradby Large Honeybee Coin Necklace £265
Anna Beck like to partner with non-profit organisations that hold meaning to them and donate a portion of proceeds from certain collections to support their important work. 30% of all proceeds of the beautifully handcrafted elephant necklaces go towards the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Africa, supporting growth of young elephants who have lost their parents to poaching, malnourishment or natural causes. It’s hard to pick, but we think the turquoise pavé elephant necklace is our fave. Anna Beck also have the circle of life collection where 30% of proceeds go towards Bumi Sehat, helping provide care for expectant mothers and their babies in Indonesia.
Meet the SVP Parwah Tigers Eye ring. Tigers Eye is worn and used for grounding, and is said to guard against ill wishes from others whilst warding off negative emotions and thoughts. 20% of the proceeds of each ring helps towards TOFTigers and the conservation of tigers.
I hope you all enjoyed having a read into some of the ways our lovely designers are doing their bit to help the planet. Whether you’re taking out shopping your Last Night I Dreamt reusable tote bag or making sure to recycle your beautifully packaged boxes correctly, it’s super important to us that we all do our bit to help no matter how big or small. Maybe these are things you might look in too when picking your next special piece of jewellery, it seems like only the beginning with brands having lots of exciting plans and goals for the future!