All love a beautiful piece of jewellery made with the rarest materials and precious gems and stones.

Would you still buy it if you knew how its made?

The truth is that most of the fine jewellery making involves processes and extraction methods which are extremely harmful to the environment and to people.

The way these rare metals and stones are mined is where the major problem lies. A lot of damage is done for mining for a miniscule amount of precious metal or stones.

Finally, gold, platinum and diamond rich areas have a history of degrading the land to a significant extent not to mention human rights violations and displacement of indigenous people and often involve transnational criminal groups.

Just a couple of things, if kept in mind will make a huge difference!

1. Know your source.

At Eroinas we don’t currently use precious metals or precious stones in our designs, opting instead for more environmentally and human friendly alternatives.

Make sure you only buy jewellery from businesses that are committed to ethical practices and recycling. It’s a simple process of melting the metal and reshaping it, there is no loss in quality in that process.

2. Why choose stainless steel.

Stainless steel has the lightest impact on our Eco-system from all known materials. In addition to it being just beautiful, here are 3 reasons that should convince you into choosing stainless steel jewellery.

Durable

Stainless steel has the power to heal itself. Chromium rich oxides form a tough invisible film that prevents corrosion, and if scratched it repairs itself by being exposed to Oxygen. It is strong, resilient and stands up confidently against the elements (doesn’t rust or tarnish). Stainless steel ranks 6th on the MOH (Mineral Hardness), while metals like Silver ranks at 2.5 which makes it harder and last longer than other metals like Silver and Brass. In addition to this our jewellery is gold plated by Ion-plating/PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition), increasing its durability.

Safe

Stainless steel is hypoallergenic. People including myself with allergies to metals will not have an adverse reaction to stainless steel. It is also very easy to clean with just soap and water (or just wear it in the shower and the cleaning’s done!)

Eco-friendly

100% recyclable. There is already a strong recycling culture and infrastructure for stainless steel – around 85% of stainless steel products are recycled at the end of their life. The recycling system is very easy and efficient and doesn’t rely on incentives or any other subsidies.

To our knowledge, no toxic materials are used in the making of stainless steel and no harmful biproducts are released when dissolved in nature.

Low energy consumption, minimal CO2 emissions.

A fun fact is that any stainless steel product already has approximately 60% recycled stainless steel content in it!

Based on our research, here’s the ranking table of the most eco-friendly materials for jewellery making (1- most eco-friendly, 10- least eco-friendly)

1. Recycled gold, recycled silver, recycled platinum

2. Stainless steel

3. Aluminium

4. Copper

5. Brass

6. Bronze

7. Titanium

8. Gold

9. Silver

10. Platinum

California’s Proposition 65

We comply with California’s Proposition 65. Lead is listed under Proposition 65 as known to the State of California to cause both cancer and reproductive harm. Jewellery is just one of many types of products that may contain lead. Manufacturers and importers of lead-containing jewellery must warn consumers if they will be exposed to lead in jewellery in an amount that exceeds the safe harbor level of 0.5 micrograms per day. Proposition 65 settlements often result in reformulation of products so that they contain fewer chemicals and other substances known to cause cancer or reproductive harm.

Please keep in mind that none of our fashion jewellery products are meant to be sold to children under the age of eight. We also advise to keep jewellery away from toddlers and infants due to a potential choking hazard risk.

Disclaimer: Sustainability is a complex topic and there are a lot of information that we may not be aware of or mention around it here. Our only goal with this content is to share our findings and shed some light on the issues that are important to us. Being informed and aware, that’s most important. We respect everyone’s opinions on this subject.