Ethical Silver sourcing, a view from La.

 

by Deborah Miarkowska

Silver sourcing, Ethics and Sustainable Development.

EcoChic Collection are delighted to be partners with La Jewellery, designers of the most exquisite handmade jewellery. We asked La Jewellery Director, Lisa Anne for her views on ethical silver sourcing.

Lisa please tell us about La Jewellery and why you describe La Jewellery as an ethical business.

“At La jewellery, we believe very strongly in not just talking about sustainability, ‘treading lightly’ on the land and about taking responsibility for our environment and our future, but in demonstrating to our customers that our materials are ethically sourced and our methods are as ‘green’ as we can make them wherever this is possible. We believe in being honest and accountable and obviously, given the nature of our business, where we source the silver we use is foremost in that accountability.

Our casting silver is sourced from a bullion dealer which holds as its maxim, the UN World Commission on Environment and Development, where sustainable development is defined as, “…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. We couldn’t agree more, which is why we choose to obtain our casting silver from a source which ranks quality and innovation as vital for sustainablity”.

“In addition, the company we use has a strong track-record and ethic in recycling. Silver, as well as other metals, is reclaimed from sources where it is a by-product of one of several other idustrial processes. The metal is reclaimed, recycled and refined to be used by us and other businesses committed to the future”

Our sources of silver at La Jewellery.

Our silver wire and sheet is obtained from a different source, a bullion dealer whose silver comes from all over the world. We are aware that this takes up air miles, but at present, it is the only source we know of for these types and forms of silver. To lessen the impact of this, we collect our scrap silver and send it to be recycled so that at least when it gets to us, the silver will be made use of in the most efficient way possible, with as little waste as we can possibly manage.

Trusting our sources.

We haven’t taken the easy way out. We have located sources we can trust and we are taking steps to make sure we do all we can to get the most from our silver, including recycling and using innovative techniques and methods of production.. Having done so, we can pass the knowledge on to you, our customer, that not only will you receive from us something beautiful, but something which has the least impact on our precious planet that we can possibly manage.

Hall marking and the law.

All appropriate items are hallmarked in our Birmingham ASSAY office and contain a date stamp

Casting

Due to the fact that some of out jewellery needs a symmetrical counterpart we use a casting company to ensure aesthetical quality.

In the past we would carry out all the casting in the art studio by hand but this proved to be very time consuming and therefore became too expensive for our clients.

After many months of research, we found an extremely fine casting company .We didn’t go for the high tech faceless companies which were in abundance, we decided on a small family run business, past on from grandfather to father to son, with a small but welcoming workforce. They are a very well respected company and work with many of the very top designer from all over the world. And if they are good enough for Vivienn Westwood then they are good enough for us!

The raw carcass of the earring is cast and then Is sent back to our art studio where it is hammered, textured, filed and turned into the beautiful piece of jewellery that can be viewed on this site.

With special thanks to LA Jewellery and Lisa-Anne for this interview and for their partnership.

Please view our gorgeous La Range HERE.

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