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A Companion to "Eco-Bling: Responsible Luxury"
Top row: Wedding designs from Green Karat. Bottom row: Ethically sourced diamonds from Brilliant Earth.
top row, courtesy green carat; bottom row, courtesy brilliant earth
While mainstream jewelers are better known to most consumers—mostly due to a constant assault of television and radio ads—a few sustainable jewelry companies have found a niche with customers who are concerned about the impacts of their purchases. Meghan Haupt’s C5 Company is one of a relatively small group that also includes:
Green Karat in Houston, Texas sells jewelry made of recycled gold, silver, platinum, and titanium along with unaltered and/or synthetic diamonds. The primary metal in every Green Karat design is recycled, and its gems are either created or recycled. Their recycled gold comes from a variety of sources, but most often it is the reincarnation of old jewelry that has sat idle for years in someone’s dresser drawer—a broken necklace, the one remaining earring from a pair, or an old high school class ring. To help shoppers offset the price of purchasing recycled jewelry, Green Karat credits buyers who turn over their own “old gold” with 80 to 100 percent of its market value.
Based in San Francisco, Brilliant Earth is one of the largest of the sustainable jewelry retailers. Its reclaimed metals come from numerous post-consumer sources, including existing jewelry, industrial-use metals, and electronics components. Every piece the company casts is made with 100 percent recycled and re-refined precious metals. They, too, will gladly accept trade-ins of old gold and platinum from shoppers who buy from their store or website. The company sells primarily diamonds from Canada and colored gemstones, which they believe have been ethically sourced. Brilliant Earth donates five percent of its profits to directly benefit African communities that have been harmed by the diamond industry.
Precious Earth Fine Jewelry in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, creates jewelry using only 100 percent recycled metals and conflict-free diamonds from Namibia. The company’s signature is a small green stone that is embedded in every piece of its jewelry. The green gemstone is an imperial chrome diopside, responsibly mined in the frozen lands of northeastern Siberia.
Sulusso Sustainable Jewelry is an online marketplace that features independent eco-jewelry designers. If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind piece, this is a good place to find it.
Also read: Eco-Bling: Responsible Luxury
