Have you ever thought about how important of a role jewelry plays in your wardrobe? How your best dress doesn’t look quite right without the perfect necklace? Or how your favorite earrings magically match every outfit?
Finding the perfect jewelry is not easy, and often you can end up with a lot of cheap pieces whereby the silver tarnishes and stains your skin green. Is it worth spending all that money on low quality jewelry that might only be worn once? Costume jewelry serves a purpose sometimes, but not every time.
Sustainability is the buzzword of 2019, and it is important to think about sustainability in all aspects of your life:
Shop Vintage
You can find vintage jewelry at local auctions, thrift stores and even online at jewelers such as F Jewellery, who sell pre-owned pieces alongside new ones.
Second hand might not be your preferred way to purchase jewelry, but it is important for these pieces to be given a second chance at life. The lifespan of jewelry is so vast and often it can be passed down from generation to generation.
Each piece of vintage jewelry has a story to tell, and you can find out so much about a piece of jewelry from its hallmarks – tiny stamps found on the inside of rings or the clasps of necklaces. These explain which metal it is made of, what country it was made in, and which jeweler made it. It is not just that the jewelry is a part of your life, you are also a part of its history.
Don’t fear second hand
A lot of people recoil at the idea of second-hand jewelry due to ideas of hygiene particularly when it comes to earrings. When you are shopping for vintage items, make sure to clean everything thoroughly using the correct cleaning products for its metal type.
If you have an idea for the perfect piece of jewelry created especially for you, then shopping vintage might not be quite right. You could spend hours and hours trawling through pictures of pieces that are just not quite perfect enough. If this is the case, then you may have to buy something new. It is still possible to keep your jewelry box sustainable when buying new jewelry, and to do so you must make sure that the pieces you are buying are Fairtrade.
Fairtrade is incredibly important in the gold industry and is also having a wonderful impact of the gemstone industry too. Fairtrade gold is only sourced from mines that meet the Fairtrade Gold Standard. To meet the certification, the mines are expected to pay their workers a Fairtrade wage, and to ensure the ongoing safety of those working to extract gold.
Keep these ideas and details in mind when you are next looking around for a new piece of jewelry and remember to try and wear your jewelry often, so that it is not confined to the inside of a box for the duration of its life.
