I have spent my career travelling the world, working alongside master craftsmen and diverse communities, and have been part of redefining what ethical jewellery can look like. I very deliberately never say we make ‘sustainable jewellery’, as jewellery is inherently unsustainable. Through our partnerships, however, we create sustainable employment within the communities we work. To create requires taking materials from the earth without replenishment. Yet, as a designer and as a company, we are constantly striving to find ways to create our jewellery with deep consideration for the environmental impact, and for the livelihoods of the artisans with whom we work.
Each collaboration tells its own story - rooted in the traditions of its land, shaped by the hands of its makers, and echoing the spirit of the earth from which the materials are drawn. It is important to me that materials come from the place in which I am creating, so that craft, knowledge, and resources remain centred within that landscape. I design each piece with the hope that it will be passed down, becoming an heirloom. In this way, the stories of the artisans who created it, and those who wear it, continue to unfold over generations. We love that jewellery, and its materials are in a constant state of being passed down, resold or recycled as fashions and trends change, but no elements are ever discarded.
Nature, and all that it offers, has always been my greatest source of inspiration. I remain in constant awe of the shapes nature creates - from seed pods and flower buds to the curve of a pomegranate, from the tender green of new growth to the shifting blues of water. These forms and colours find their way, instinctively, into my work.
On Earth Day, I find myself reflecting especially on our collaborations in
Colombia and
Myanmar.
In 2022, I launched Together Forever - our first collection made entirely with ethical, river-panned gold and alluvial emeralds from Colombia. Since then, we have partnered with the Association of Responsible Miners (ARM), who source gold from women panners working in the tropical forests of Chocó. These women lift gravel from the river using traditional wooden pans, skilfully separating gold without chemicals, machinery, or environmental destruction. This method is not only eco-clean and carbon-neutral, but also preserves ancestral knowledge and a deep, respectful relationship with the land.
Small-scale mining, when done in this way, can offer an alternative to large industrial extraction - one that is slower, more attentive, and far less invasive. It allows communities to remain on their land, to work in rhythm with nature rather than against it, and to sustain biodiversity rather than erode it. It supports local economies directly, with income feeding into health, education, and family life, while maintaining cultural traditions that might otherwise be lost.
I pay a premium on this gold to support a rewilding project in an area devastated by mercury pollution - an attempt, however small, to restore what has been harmed. In Colombia, we work with alluvial emeralds from the mountain rivers of Muzo and Chivor. Also panned without machinery or chemicals, they have long been seen as symbols of renewal and new beginnings.
I have also been fortunate to work in partnership with Turquoise Mountain Myanmar since 2014. There, I collaborate with Cherry and her family, who own a small-scale mine in Mogok. They have complete autonomy over their mining, cutting, and selling practices, and we have full transparency over the sourcing and traceability of each stone. Their mine sits alongside their farm, allowing them to live and work from their own land. Supporting small-scale mines like Cherry’s means supporting independence, dignity, and stewardship - ensuring that future generations can continue to benefit from, and care for, the land that sustains them.
Perhaps this is where I find hope. Not in perfection, but in connection - in the possibility that, through thoughtful collaboration, we can create objects that honour both people and place. Jewellery will always begin with the earth, but it can also carry with it a respect for its origins and a responsibility for its future.
On this Earth Day, I am reminded that every small choice matters: how we source, how we make, and how we value what we wear. If we can slow down, listen more closely, and work more gently, then perhaps what we create can become not only an adornment but a quiet act of care.
