As you are all probably aware, the biggest goals for my business, the backbone of my mission statement (when I create one!), is about being an ethical silversmith and being affordable in the process.
Like most silversmiths, my silver is all recycled. I purchase it from a very reputable UK company who buy second hand sterling silver, they melt it down and roll it out into sheets and wire.
I use the sterling silver sheet for:
- Hand carving shapes (e.g. an Easter bunny necklace!)
- Punching shapes (e.g. my ever so popular textured heart pendant)
- Making base plates to create settings for pieces with stones
I use the sterling silver wire for:
- Earring hooks
- Hoops to connect a pendant to the chain
- Rings
- Spinner rings
- Bangles
When I carve or punch the shapes into the silver sheet, it leaves the surrounding bit of silver which I generally call my silver 'offcuts' or 'scrap' which doesn't sound very glamorous. An option to use this scrap is to either send them back to the silver company which then goes through the recycling process mentioned above, or I can make something from them. I always go with the latter.
I either pop it all into a pot and use the scrap silver for sand casting (have you seen my last blog about sand casting?!), or I melt the silver into 'blobs', I then solder a jump ring onto the top of the blob and turn it into either a pendant or earrings (studs or dangly ones!). I then either polish up to a high shine or oxidise them to give a rustic finish. I have the option to punch patterns into the blobs which I then paint with a black enamel paint to highlight the pattern. Have you seen these on my website? I can also personalise them with letter stamps that I have. I love the molten silver range, I love that there is never an identical pair of earrings or another identical pendant, each piece is perfectly unique!
In a world where so much is mass produced, machine made and cheap fast fashion, I really strive for slow fashion, handmade with love (Sorry to be a cliché but it's very true!) and very much unique and individual pieces which I create with a very conscious mindset, from the silver, stones and packaging but while trying to keep costs to a minimum to try to keep my pieces as affordable as possible.
The gemstone world is very unethical (Have you seen Blood Diamond with Leonardo DICaprio?!), it's so difficult to find stones which have been mined and prepared in an ethical manner. There are a huge amount of stones available, but when you do the research into the background of the stones, it is not worth the purchase, in my opinion. I would love to be able to inspire people to be more conscious shoppers, however, I appreciate budgets are tight at the moment.
I have reliable suppliers, gemstones which are affordable and ethical come mainly from one company, but I have stepped massively into the upcycled and manmade stone market too. I have a couple of UK suppliers who are wonderful to deal with and are very mindful about their approach towards the environmental impact they have.
I certainly find some delight and peace in the knowledge that I'm doing all I can to fulfil my desires of being a conscious silversmith but there is always room for growth!
Thank you for reading this far and if you have any suggestions on how I can move forward again with more ethical steps, please feel free to drop me an email!
And thank you for your support, you are helping me to continue being as ethical and conscious as possible!