Unless you live under a rock (no offence to rock-dwellers), you can’t have missed the chatter surrounding sustainability in the past few years. With the pandemic having a planetary impact, millennials, scientists, advocacy agencies and brands alike are having to confront and lead the charge towards conscious consumption in a big way.

More than just a physical adornment, jewelry now finds itself caught in this knotted conversation – at the intersection of aesthetics and ethics. Whether it’s cameo pendants, vintage heirlooms or wedding bands – jewelry is increasingly being recognised as a conversation starter and a personal symbol – a metaphor for the memories, personalities, moments, movements and stories that make us. And contrary to the planned obsolescence coded into our modern symbols, many of us are looking for that ever-elusive longevity to carry our taste and conscious choices across the fragility of fast-fashion time. In the midst of this crisis, let’s unpack the history and story of sustainability through the luxurious lens of the jewelry industry.

What Exactly is Sustainable Jewelry?


One of the core values leading the way for our new generation of keepsakes, a number of contemporary jewelry brands are turning to ethical, handmade and original practices in order to provide a comfy, luxurious and conscious choice to clients in the form of wearable emblems and treasures that act as tangible expressions of personal meaning defined through three major yardsticks:

• Fair

Conscious consumption that sources labour and law materials through fair-trade. Think, small scale, artisanal, local and handmade and community focused – featuring fair prices that draw financial security. Not only does this go hand-in-hand with empowering the creative economy, but also empowering the environment through ecological considerations and organic production.

Asserts the integrity inherent to sustainable values and agendas by addressing fair wages and labour rights, green rights, consumer rights that justify the cost of purchase and inherent value of the item.

Why Should You Choose Sustainable Jewelry?

Sustainability is the trump card within the slow jewelry movement because it not only empowers the consumer with conscious choices but engenders an evolutionary perspective. Thanks to sustainability more and more consumers now see jewelry as a wearable investment piece with guaranteed longevity that doesn’t cost the earth. This could mean buying upcycled jewels, purchasing pre-loved vintage pieces that have been given a new lease of life, or choosing plastic-free and/or recycled items that create that feel-good factor.


The key to switching to sustainable jewelry choices can be found in the name itself: longevity not just in terms of wear and tear but also for the planet, its people and resources. The focus is on enabling all generations to share, wear and treasure beauty across lifetimes – backed by timeless aesthetic as well as ethical production.

How to tell if Your Jewelry is Sustainable?

– Made from Recycled Jewels and Metals


The reason gold is called a noble metal is because, not only is it elementally stable, but endlessly recyclable. The same applies to silver as both these precious metals can be melted over the course of several uses without losing their shine or quality. A number of diamonds, as well as precious gemstones, also inherit the ability to be repurposed repeatedly. This allows fine jewelry to be certifiably low-impact in comparison to newly minted counterparts without contributing to extractive mining. Conscious brands largely source their stash of recycled precious metals from the jewelry supply chain but some others are looking to tech industries and deriving their materials from computer bits and boards.

– Transparent Supply Chain


Traceability is a big factor and the latest buzzword to hit the market. Diamonds and gems used in much of fine jewelry exchange a number of hands before arriving at your closet, which is why fully traceable supply chains that are certified conflict-free, fair-trade and carbon neutral are safe to buy.

– Lab-grown


Lab-grown diamonds condense the conditions under which diamonds form under the surface of the earth using high heat to create bespoke cuts, clarity, colours and carat weights featuring the rarest type of flawless rocks. One of the major conversation pushers in the gem and jewelry market, lab-grown completely subverts the traditional and hazardous mining practices that are devastating to the planet in many ways. Often the process creates a number of by-products that are useful within other industries too.

– Fair Prices + Made to Last


Fast jewelry may seem affordable but it’s all smokes and mirrors when it comes to actual price per wear. Instead, the smart move is to save and indulge in investment pieces. This ensures slow purchase behaviour as well as consumption too while leaving you with a piece that is sturdy, everlasting and heirloom quality. It’s price thus seems justifiable for the conscious factor alone in the long run.

– What to Look for When Shopping Sustainable


The labels to look for when you’re buying your forever piece would consist of the following:

– Certified Fair Trade:

A global, standardised and well-respected stamp of industry-wide approval, the international emblem fair-trade certification applies to items and tradeables that uplift workers through equitable pay as well as safe and legal working conditions.

– The Kimberly Process

Instituted after the Kimberly Mines in the Nothern Cape Province, South Africa in the year 2000, it safeguards the diamond industry from sourcing to supply chain to trading by phasing out conflict diamonds.

– Fair-mined 


Standardising precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum in congruence with sustainable extraction practices, this certification is especially useful to trace metal origins from artisanal mining communities. The certificate ensures reduction in chemical use as well as rehabilitation of the native ecosystem.

– GIA


One of the more popular international non-profit and monitoring bodies, GIA aka Gemological Institute of America informs, evaluates as well as grades the authenticity, value and origins of free-range diamonds, stones, and pearls.

Why Sustainable Jewelry is for the Greater Good


Signature styles you’ll spot a mile off do not have to come at the cost of the planet or its people. Going beyond seasons or trends the sector-wide focus on sustainability ensures wearability along with preciousness.

The more consciously made, the more carefully curated a collection becomes with personal meaning as well as positive planetary implications supporting the message of investment pieces that do not compromise on quality or beauty.

Inviting longevity to your jewelry box makes your source of style classic. Ultimately, made to last pieces can be passed on through generations – thereby creating conscious treasures you’ll want to love across a lifetime. In this context, the “make do and mend” method allows the recreation of exquisite objects left by generations past where at the end of a jewel’s life, owners can choose to repair or recycle their pieces. This could in effect, help transform the industry into a circular economy and close the loop of vicious product cycle thanks to overproduction.

The sustainable approach to shopping pieces that last, dictates that love-forever pieces add a personal touch while causing minimal waste of material or product. The use of fair-trade gold and eco silver from sustainable companies of repute allows us to know the jewelry’s true journey. 

Ultimately, the curious contemporary consumer who wants to know what their jewellery is made from is championed by the contemporary brands whose holistic approach to sustainability is through consciously creating jewelry that protects its source of inspiration: nature.

If an issue could be person of the year, sustainability would be the prima donna of our times. As the buzzword that launched a thousand think pieces, just what is sustainability really? And what does it say about a world that wants to be changed by it…Let’s dive in headfirst, shall we?

Put simply, sustainable fashion is all about extending the lifespan of your wardrobe. Yet, sustainability is more often than not defined by something that it isn’t – linear, harmful, wasteful and consumerist. Still, there are a number of ways that encapsulate what being sustainably fashionable really means – from ethical sourcing to clean raw materials, to fair labour to thrifting. Ultimately, all of these strategies converge at a point where the sartorial temperament meets environmental betterment.

Slay it Slowly: Some Tips

With the pandemic unleashing the kindness economy, there’s a lot to think about. When it comes to being a responsible shopper, it isn’t really as hard as you might think to curate a sustainable wardrobe.

• An interesting rule of thumb is Livia Firth’s #30Wears rule. Question your purchase and ask if what you’re getting will last 30 wears or beyond.
• When making a special purchase, you want to make sure you are buying from a brand that aligns with your values.
• Choosing statement pieces that are multi-occasion and can be styled in different ways, rather than chasing trends is another great way to start.
• Introduce a responsibility edit, based on materials, stance, process and final impact of the brands or items of your choosing.
• Champion transparency. Choose brands that record and recognise their product impact.
• Vintage has a huge role to play in making fashion more sustainable because unlike new items leaving a substantial carbon footprint attached to manufacturing, the amount of new energy needed to produce vintage pieces is zero.
• Have a one-in, one-out policy which means that every time you buy something make sure that you are giving up and donating another item.
• Look after your pieces properly. This will allow you to replace things less often.
• Only buy items that you know are going to work for you all year round.
• Invest in jewelry cleaning tools or clothing maintenance tools such as fabric shavers and steam irons to improve the longevity of your buys.
• Learn how to repair your clothes and accessories – or pay local professionals to do the same.
• Think twice before using fast fashion as an excuse for something new.
• Buying just a few high-quality items a year, rather than lots of cheaper, less eco-friendly pieces, will dramatically reduce your carbon footprint; so why not save up, invest and buy less.

Stanning Sustainable Jewelry

A relatively newer concept, slow jewelry is all about buying traditional, high-quality pieces whose value will only increase over the years. The defining facets of the slow jewelry movement would curate unique talismans with the following features:

Good
Designs that are made to withstand and shine through whatever life throws your way. Pieces that are made to last a lifetime and tell a story or hold a memory that can be passed down with a human touch – retaining connection to the origins.

Clean
We should consider the consequences of buying jewelry made in a factory on the other side of the world at the expense of the environment, local economies and craftspeople. Instead, we need jewelry that has an air of honesty about it in addition to transparency.

Fair
Cheap labour and machines mass-produce jewelry so that it can be bought on a whim. Their production methods don’t often consider the human cost of their material and it’s so easy to lose track of the narrative in a quest for cheaper and faster due to which the jewelry loses its uniqueness.

What’s Inclusivity Got to Do with It?

The concept of inclusivity while obscure, is as important to the conversation about sustainability as the ethical impact of our choices. We need to look at supporting and becoming aware of narratives that prioritise people as well as the planet.

This means a world where sustainable fashion curates beautiful pieces that are not just cool and kind but also standardised for wearers without discriminating against size. A major challenge in terms of upping the ante when it comes to fashion is about the limited size-diverse, sustainable options – leading to a sort of size apartheid that ultimately drives so many of us to purchase disposable pieces whose only future lies in a landfill.

A great way to counter this is to invest in hackable pieces that can be worn regardless of size fluctuations. Features could include adjustable rings or detachable belts, interchangeable charms or extra fabric allowance.

Sustain Your Style

Sustainability lies beyond just parroting buzzwords while focusing on action that is socially driven. It must re-direct respect and dignity for workers, buyers AND the environment.

From design to production, we need to examine our choices and understand wages as well as working conditions in the quest for beautiful, timeless products.

If we are to meet future demand within planetary limits, we need to radically rethink the way we consume. This means reducing our dependence on virgin materials and in effect, transforming the way we produce, use and discard fashion – our greatest modern-day addiction.

Youlry

Thoughtfully designed in our studio, Youlry is made keeping your exceptional taste in mind. Crafted from pure gold and set in precious stones whose value never declines as time rolls by, our collections feature distinct pieces that are wearable years down the line.