Handmade Eco-Chic Jewelry

Chased Copper Large Hoop Earrings - Eco-chic Jewelry

Chased Copper Large Hoop Earrings Made From Recycled Copper Wire

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with Eco-chic Jewelry

The new growing trend with jewelry and most accessories at the moment is their eco-friendliness. It’s not as important to have the biggest and most expensive diamonds anymore, but rather, the most eco-friendly jewels that reduce your carbon footprint. These kinds of eco-chic jewelry can be found influencing a huge range of collections, from recycled jewelry to collections using more eco-friendly methods to designs that are inspired by nature.

Wearing “green” jewelry isn’t just about taking your Grandmother’s old brooches and re-wearing them, rather than buying new, although bringing new life to elegant vintage pieces is a hot trend as well. Eco-friendly jewelry can also mean recycling the basic materials used to make the jewelry such as melting down glass to form it into different new shapes, reforming metal or reusing other components from old jewelry.

Citrine Bronze Ring - Eco-chic Jewelry

Citrine Bronze Ring - Ring Shank made from Recycled Scrap Copper and Tin

Recycled Metals and Stones in Eco-chic Jewelry

Jewelers and designers that promote eco-chic jewelry actively promote recycling precious metals and stones. In particular, many companies now try to recycle or use recycled gold as a way to reduce the land that gets ruined through the gold mining process. Many places are also using lab created stones instead of risking supporting “blood diamonds.” The lab created stones look like the real thing, but they cost less to make, which means they’ll cost less for you to purchase.

Eco-chic Jewelry Doesn’t Have to Look “Recycled”

Eco-chic jewelry doesn’t have to have a rustic and recycled feel about it. Many designers are trying to make their recycled pieces look good as new, however the craze for eco-chic jewelry has also meant that more organic shapes and flawed stones are appreciated over “perfect” designs. This has opened up a whole new design arena for jewelers, with some exciting and unique results that will appeal to any “green” jewelry lover!

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Keishi Pearls

Keishi Cornflake Pearl Necklace

Keishi Cornflake Pearl Necklace

Keishi Pearls – A Brief History

Pearls have been a prized element for jewelry for thousands of years. Although the most expensive pearls earn their price for their regular shape, even lustre and smooth surface many “inferior” pearl shapes are now becoming popular for their unique appearance and striking style that they can add to handmade jewelry.

Pearls are produced by mollusks when a small irritant such as a grain of sand gets inside its shell. The mollusk feels this as an irritant and coats the particle with a lustrous substance known as “nacre”. Pearls tend to take on the shape of the original particle, which is why perfectly round natural pearls are so rare and valuable.

Keishi Cornflake Pearl Necklace with Amethyst

Keishi pearls are formed when the mollusk rejects the irritant before the cultivating process is completed but still produces the nacre in a freeform shape. They can also be formed alongside a cultured pearl in the mollusk. Originally cultivated by Japanese pearl harvesters in the 1920s, keishi pearls were once considered a by-product or a “mistake” since the irritant was expelled before a round pearl could be produced. But there’s no mistaking the reasons why keishi pearls have become so popular in modern jewelry making. Since they are made entirely of nacre, they have a beautiful shimmer and luster and come in a variety of naturally organic shapes, colors and sizes.

“Cornflake” Keishi Pearls

Keishi pearls are also known as “cornflake” pearls because of their irregular shapes and “poppy seed” pearls since the word “keishi” means poppy seed in Japanese. They are generally small in size but are also available in elongated shapes known as stick pearls. Their unique, asymmetrical shapes make them a favorite choice for those searching for pearl jewelry with one-of-a-kind flair and natural beauty. Once considered to be useless and common, keishi pearls are now cultivated mostly in China, Japan and the South Seas and have become a favorite among handmade jewelry designers. John S. Brana offers stunningly beautiful necklaces among his collection made from iridescent cornflake keishi pearls in varied colors, and complemented by sea glass, Swarovski crystals and fine silver.

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