Recycled jewelry is a great way to show your support for a sustainable environment. Recycled jewelry companies often donate a portion of their sales to organizations dedicated to helping others or to lessen the human impact on the environment.
What Is Recycled Jewelry?
Recycled jewelry makers take advantage of gold and silver to create a new piece of jewelry. These two precious metals can be recycled indefinitely without the metal quality suffering. This makes both silver and gold highly valuable and great choices for recycled jewelry.
What Can Be Created Using Recycled Jewelry?
Not only are metals recycled to make jewelry, but diamonds, gemstones, and even leather are often recycled to create new jewelry pieces. If you have a broken piece of jewelry that you realize cannot be repaired, you may consider recycling it into a new piece of jewelry. Digital products have silver and gold components that are recycled and often used to make jewelry.
Recycled Jewelry Companies Make Healthy Environmental Impact
Recycled gold and silver jewelry means the metals used in the creation of jewelry pieces don't require the harmful mining process. Recycling precious metals, gemstones, and diamonds produces fewer emissions than those mined. For example, gold or silver ore must be refined by extracting the metals from the rocks. This process requires environmentally harmful solvents that often end up in the water and can kill aquatic life and animals.
Recycling of Gemstones and Diamonds
The practice of recycling gemstones and diamonds means less mining needed. The mining of diamonds has led to what are known as blood diamonds since they are mined in conflict regions.
Growing Demand for Lab Grown Diamonds
As a result of conscious choice, the demand for lab grown diamonds known as CZ or cubic zirconia diamonds. These substitutes for real diamonds have a low environmental impact in their production process.
Gold-Plated Jewelry
Another economic impact of recycling precious metals is the ability of jewelry manufacturers to use recycled gold for plating either silver or other metal jewelry. This reduces the need for gold and also gives consumers the advantage of gold jewelry, albeit plated, without the extravagant price tag of 14k or 18k solid gold jewelry.
10 Recycled Jewelry Companies to Shop
You may find ten recycled jewelry companies a great start in your recycled jewelry shopping. Each company has a story and reason for choosing to go with recycled gold, silver, gemstones, diamonds, and other recycled materials.
1. MIADONNA
MIADONNA sells lab-grown diamonds and gemstones. You can build your own engagement ring by selecting the setting and stones you wish set in it. The company was founded by a mother who desired to free the children caught in the world of unethical diamond mining. From the company's location in Portland, Oregon, MIADONNA produces jewelry made from recycled precious metals and lab-grown diamonds and gemstones. Prices range from around $278 to $10,000+.
2. Bagatiba
Bagatiba jewelry is made from recycled gold and silver and sources of sustainable materials. The jewelry is made for and by women. The jewelry line is hand crafted and is made with ethical, responsible & sustainable processes and resources. The company website states that it has undertaken a, "Closed-loop Upcycling & Sustainability initiatives along with dynamic ethics." You can find a very versatile design collection of jewelry styles and designs in necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings. The price range is around $40 to $1,100+.
3. Washed Ashore
Washed Ashore is dedicated to environmentally friendly processes and the use of recycled jewelry in its jewelry creations. You can shop for rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings made from recycled gold, silver, gemstones, pearls, and diamonds. The prices range from around $80 to $2,800.
4. Kimai
Kimai creates rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets from recycled gold and silver. The company uses lab grown diamonds. The cost range for Kimai jewelry is from around $275 to $1,900.
5. Ana Luisa
Ana Luisa uses 100% recycled silver and gold in jewelry pieces. As a direct-to-consumer jewelry brand, Ana Luisa stated a business goal of a carbon neutral business and achieved that status after only three years of being in business. The company creates earrings, ear cuffs, necklaces, rings, and bracelets. The prices range around $44 to $120+.
6. Poppy Finch
The Canadian-based Poppy Finch jewelry is hand-crafted by local artisans in Vancouver. The company primarily uses recycled solid gold, and the diamonds and precious gemstones are ethically sourced. You can find Poppy Finch jewelry in stores like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and many other well-known stores and high-end boutiques. You can find 14k gold and 18k gold bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings, brooches, and charms for around $10 to $1,365+.
7. Senia
Senia was founded by two sisters. One is an engineer, and the other majored in finance. They donate a portion of sales to diverse startup founders at the Wond'ry, Vanderbilt's Innovation Center. Modular designs are explored in the chains for ankles or necklaces, chain rings, rings, from $135 to $1,250.
8. ODETTE
ODETTE offers necklaces, earrings, cuff bracelets, clasp bracelets, monogram charms and various charms. Made of high polished recycled 14k gold, sterling silver, and brass, ODETTE jewelry is hand crafted by master jewelry designers in New York City and cast in NYC. The various stones and pearls have the expected type of imperfections found in natural materials. The price range is around 120 to $225+.
9. Floios
Floios touts itself as design foragers, by creating silver and gold jewelry, by dipping botanicals into the metal to capture forever a piece of nature that you can wear. Located in Ljubljana-Slovenia that is considered the most forested region in all of Europe, the company seems like an ideal merging of jewelry art and nature. The jewelry is made from recycled silver from digital waste, antiquated x-ray photos, and other sources. But even more impressive is each piece of jewelry is made from unaltered natural plants. Each jewelry botanical comes with an explanation of where it was picked, so you know the origins of your unique forever preserved bit of nature and the date it was picked. You can shop for necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings. The prices range from around $45 to $200+.
10. Dear Survivor
Dear Survivor makes jewelry from upcycled metals and various scrap leathers. Women refugees hand make the jewelry and for each piece of jewelry sold, a portion is donated to organizations that support survivors of human trafficking. You'll find earrings made from colored leather shapes, necklaces of sustainably sourced pearls, gemstone clusters, glass charms, rings, hoop earrings, and more. The price range is around $48 to $120+.
Reworking Jewelry to Recycle Into New Jewelry
There are other ways that jewelry is recycled. Some jewelry designers create individual pieces by taking older jewelry apart and using those pieces to create new jewelry pieces. Artisans like Christina Perry specialize in this type of romantic recycled jewelry. In fact, Christina Perry's first recycle jewelry piece belonged to her grandmother. She shares, "I am drawn to vintage jewelry beads and especially the filigree components. I have also worked with Venetian beads for years. I take something pretty and rework it into something more elegant and wearable." You can find individual jewelry designers who specialize in this type of recycled jewelry for a touch of nostalgia remade into a modern piece of jewelry that can be enjoyed for decades.
Recycled Jewelry Takes Many Forms
There are many ways that jewelry can be recycled. You can support jewelry designers making eco-friendly pieces when you make them your first choice for your next jewelry purchase.
