From the beginning, while I was starting to learn about making jewellery, I always knew I wanted to be environmentally conscious with the way i do things.
The first idea and interest that started this journey was taking unused old coins and turning them into rings. The classic and crisp design of the original coins, and keeping this as part of the design for my jewellery, had a huge appeal to me. The very first piece of jewellery i made was from a 1960s half crown coin.
It took the best part of 4 hours to drill a hole into the coin, and then hammer away at it on an old metal rod, to make a half decent excuse for a ring, but i was in love with it. The process of creating something myself, and the history, aesthetics, uniqueness, and recycled nature of what i hade made, had me fixed.
Through the growth of my hobby into a business, and the continual changes and learning as the business progresses, environmental sustainability is one of the main values we hold at Silver Hollow Jewellery. We love that our customers and followers share this value, and can relate to eco-conscious decisions that help care for the planet we share. Here's how we aim to do this:
100% Recycled Materials
At Silver Hollow Jewellery we exclusively use recycled materials in all of our work. The materials we specialise in are 925 sterling silver and 9ct gold (although we're happy to work with a variety of purities of silver and gold with our custom commissions!). We source these precious metals through trusted suppliers, either as recycled grain and wire, or from reclaimed coins and cutlery that are tested and certified to be the purities used in jewellery.
These include historic coins (many UK coins pre 1920 were solid sterling silver), antique cutlery, and broken jewellery or silverware. We also buy your old silver and gold! Click here to find out how we can pay you more than any other company for your unused jewellery or precious metals.
By using these recycled materials, we make the choice to avoid freshly mined metals that contribute to destroying natural land, ecosystems, and the harmful consequences this has to wildlife and an environmentally sustainable future. This also helps reduce the emissions caused with extra steps in processing and transportation of these materials after mining. We realise that recycling metals brings its own processes and transportation of industry that can have the same (even if reduced) negative environmental impact, but we make a conscious decision to reduce this as much as possible with the choices we make.
Sustainably Sourced Gemstones
The jewellery industry can be a brutal place, with historic and current practices that violate human rights and the health of our planet. These range from poor working conditions and even child labor in gemstone mines, to deforestation and toxic chemicals during the mining process. The lack of regulation in countries where the majority of gemstones can be mined is a huge contributing factor to the ethical and environmental harm mining can have.
We recognise this problem, and the silence from large jewellery retailers and high street jewellers around these issues.
So, we make sure to factor in sustainability when it comes to sourcing gemstones for our jewellery. One way we do this is by purchasing laboratory grown gemstones whenever possible. These have a far less controversial impact on the issues mentioned, and still share the exact same chemical structure, properties, and appearance of their natural counterparts.
Laboratory made gemstones not only are the exact same as natural stones, but even have some benefits over them. This includes cost efficiency, as processes can be more cheap and regulated. Also, with certain gemstones like sapphires, labs can achieve better clarity within the gemstones, and less inclusions (natural imperfections), meaning you get a much more fine grade of gemstone for your money.
Sustainable Manufacturing and Processes
As we hand make 99 percent of our pieces at Silver Hollow Jewellery, this reduces the environmentally harmful manufacturing processes like those of mass produced companies. With less energy consumption and emissions during the making process, this is another way that we do our best to stay as sustainable as possible. This ranges from the choice of tools that we use, our sand casting methods that allow us to reuse our hand carved wax moulds, to insulating the workshop to conserve heat during the freezing winter months (i love the UK :)).
We also use recycled and recyclable packaging and posting supplies for all of our orders, to help reduce any excess waste or negative impact in this area of our business.
So, wherever we can at Silver Hollow Jewellery, we make choices that consider environmental sustainability. We still have a long way to go as a business, and in our efforts to optimise our affect on the planet. We continue to learn as we grow. If you've just got to the end of this blog post, I cant explain how much your sharing of our values means to us, and any feedback on how we can improve what we do would be a massive help! Contact us at silverhollowjewellery@silverhollowjewellery.com