What about sustainable jewellery?

To be honest, on my quest to a more sustainable lifestyle I didn’t think about jewellery. Materials like gold, silver and stainless steel are all sustainable right? I was aware that cheap jewels (with plastic for example) where not. But at first, I didn’t see the problem. What could be unsustainable or unethical about diamonds and gemstones? I didn’t think about the mines they need, the chemicals they use, or the people working in these mines (modern slavery). The question is the same as with your clothes, who made this? And at what cost? Because often we don’t think about the person working in the mines for our diamond.
It’s actually very easy to lab grown a diamond and reuse metals like gold and silver. By reusing metals brands are already a little bit eco-friendlier.
But to be really sustainable it means much more than the materials they’re using. The company should also consider packaging and ethical treatment. This means the brand has a fair treatment of its workers, the way it deals with chemicals (waste policy) and recycling.

Current problems with jewellery

Jewellery is often a gift, something precious (like for a birthday). Yet we own a lot more jewelry then we think, just like fast fashion. Pieces we buy because they look cute for this one event. And most of the time we only where it once. So the first problem is overconsuming (a problem of our time).
A second problem is transparency, often we don’t know who made our pieces. The raw materials are often mined in one country, processed in another, then turned into jewellery in yet another country. Sadly many brands don’t have any transparency.
Did you know you can see mines (for diamonds) from out of space? Well that sounds cool right? But to mine one diamond an estimated 250 tons of earth are shifted for every single carat. So we can conclude this is not so eco-friendly. That’s why lab grown diamands are much more sustainable.
I consider these the three biggest problems when you want to buy a new piece of jewellery.

Wolf & Zephyr

In my search for a sustainable brand I found Wolf & Zephry These pieces are made from silver, coated in recycled 14K gold. The gemstones are handpicked by the founder (Tori Shay) in India. So you know where the gemstones are from, and who made them. They use eco-friendly packaging in the whole process. Every piece is designed in the UK and handcrafted in an ethical workshop in India. Having a look on their website I already saw some necklaces that where 100% my style. So I choose to buy the “two sisters” necklace, a symbol for powerful women. Every piece of jewellery has a small story behind it, which is so nice to know. Because now everytime I’ll whear my two sister necklace I’ll feel the femine power. They also sell vintage pieces. These are all orignals (they only have one piece of each). The necklace came in a small box, always handy when I choose not to where it.
Wolf & Zephry is member of the 1% for the planet, meaning they donate to this goodcause with every sale they make. It’s an organization that tries to give back to our planet as much as possible (many big brands are donating).

Right now I can give you a promocode: THISISCHARIS, which will give you a 10% discount at Wolf & Zephry

Hope you enjoyed this blog!

Greets
Charis