New Designers does exactly what it says on the tin!

Opulent Ethics have been so busy over the last 3 weeks that we have been neglecting the blog. We thought you deserved an explanation of why we haven't been around so here goes....

- First off we completed the Precious Pomanders for our final university project. These will be up on the Opulent Ethics website as soon as possible but here is a picture of the final pieces in the meantime.

Cherished mini-pomanders

- Then Opulent Ethics exhibited in the Birmingham City University School of Jewellery final show alongside Emily Richard, Annie Li and Susie Alexander to name but a few.

- And finally we arrived in London for New Designers....and boy what a treat that was! Not only was it a great opportunity to show Opulent Ethics off to the public but there were also a few other ethical students exhibiting that we got to meet and swap and share ideas with.

Ali Bartlett was in the Applied Craft section of New Designers but we met up and talked about the future of working with sustainable and recycled materials in our work.

Ali Bartlett sandblasted bead

Craig Owen was with the Duncan of Jordanstone University of Dundee stand and had spent his time researching sustainability as a design feature. There were a few interesting conversations and discussions had here!

Lynsey Pluck was exhibiting under the One Year On section of New Designers and was showing off some of her recycled sari material pieces. All the materials used by Lynsey are ethically sourced and the result is beautiful.

Lynsey Pluck recycled sari material brooch

It was a fantastic chance to get feedback and share ideas with new people and, more importantly, new people who share Opulent Ethics' ideals. It was a great chance to share and learn from other sources.

So, thank you to Birmingham City University's School of Jewellery for 3 years of inspiring, tiring, challenging work. Thanks to New Designers for hosting Opulent Ethics and all the other amazing exhibitors. And thank you to the new friends that we made there...Ali Bartlett and Craig Owen.

That's all for now....

Opulent Ethics’ pomanders get the golden touch

Over the past few months Opulent Ethics have been designing, manufacturing and marketing our precious pomander range. And the final one will be the first to be constructed over 90% in Oro Verde gold.

Oro Verde gold pomander

Having worked with Oro Verde gold previously during our Eveoire range where we loved the outcome, we decided it was time to expand our use of this beautiful material. So, our most precious pomander will be constructed almost entirely from Oro Verde gold.

And so far, all looks well for this most exquisite piece. Opulent Ethics are looking forward to seeing the final outcome. Hopefully it’ll be ready in the next few days!

That’s all for now….

Opulent Ethics heading for New Designers

As we here at Opulent Ethics are finishing off our Precious pomander range we are also considering our next step. And we think it is time to show off our pomanders to the world.

One of Opulent Ethics' Cherished pomanders



So, as well as being on the Opulent Ethics website soon, we will be showing the Precious range at the Birmingham City University School of Jewellery Final Show from 13^th – 17^th June before heading to London to New Designers where the pieces will be on show from 30^th June – 3^rd July.

The shows are open to the public on the dates mentioned so come along and see us.

That’s all for now….

Sneak preview of Opulent Ethics’ pomanders

Just a quick one today.

Opulent Ethics can officially reveal the first photos of some of our new range of pomanders.

Mini sphere pomander closed

Mini Octagon pomander as it will appear when opened

Mini tubular pomander before assembly

These little gems will make up the lower end of Opulent Ethics’ range of modern pomanders which allow the wearer to put something precious inside.

Check back soon for the finished pieces.

That’s all for now….

Opulent Ethics’ pomander update

As you may know, Opulent Ethics have been working on producing a range of modern pomanders in recent weeks. And after what feels like a lifetime of design development we finally have the first of our cast pieces.

Octagon pomander pieces

They were cast by Vipa Designs out of 100% recycled UK silver and Oro Verde gold and we are very happy with the results.

 

Sphere pomander base in Oro Verde gold



We now have a lot of work assembling the pomander pieces to make up the final articles, so we better get back to it. Watch this space!

That’s all for now....

From Caffeine-Aided-Design to Computer-Aided-Design

We’ve all done it; put the kettle on to help us to do another couple of hours of design in the run up to a deadline. When the pressure is on and everything has to fit and be precise whilst retaining the aesthetics of a piece you can find yourself tied up in all sorts of design knots.

This is where Opulent Ethics are finding themselves but luckily we undertook some training in four of the best jewellery CAD software packages last year and we have been able to put them to good use.

Whilst CAD has been around for quite a few years throughout various industries including the aeronautical, medical and engineering industries and is even used for making shoes, for speeding up the design process and helping us to be ethical this skill has been a god-send.

As you may know, Opulent Ethics have recently been designing a range of pomanders which will have numerous moving parts. In order to make assembly of the pomanders as quick as possible we have tried to standardise certain sections of the pomanders for use throughout the range, and make the designs precise and easy to piece together during assembly.



Pomander pieces drawn in Rhino



For these designs, CAD has been an indispensible tool as it has allowed us to visualise the range in 3-dimensions, check that the movements appear to be working and alter tolerances much quicker and much more precisely than if we were attempting to make or sketch designs by hand. And there is always the safety net UNDO button for when things don’t go quite to plan.



The biggest advantage to an ethical jeweller has to be the waste reduction though. Imagine producing your piece of jewellery by hand; there is scrap and waste material at every step whereas, with CAD, your only waste is the sprue which is attached to a model in order to cast it. And this can be recycled in future castings too.

Waste reduction is one of the two main points for our pomander brief and CAD has proved itself as the perfect antidote to throw away materials. We aren’t CAD’ing the entire pomanders but those pieces which are being drawn in CAD include the technical and moving sections which, during production, would be most difficult to construct exactly and would have the largest percentage of waste as pieces would be constantly altered to fit tolerances.

And then of course, there are all the nifty tools and wizards which allow even the most computer illiterate of us to produce beautiful creations.

But it isn’t all positive; the massive increase in the use of CAD is a major factor in the decline of many other traditional hand skills and this is being noticed throughout the jewellery industry.

It has been observed in recent years that new students are being taught the latest technologies in place of hand skills and the latter are, therefore, in decline. These skills are historical and create beautiful pieces and as these are what initially attracted us all to jewellery in the first place they shouldn’t be allowed to diminish in importance.

With the recession still being felt, many trends are now leaning away from newer, more expensive technologies and concentrating more on hand crafted items. A resurgence in hand crafts and techniques is happening and we hope it will help bring back those skills which are dying out.

Opulent Ethics can’t help but think that a happy medium needs to be found with the beauty and individuality of handmade pieces being combined with the precision and reduced waste of newer technologies. Here’s hoping that Opulent Ethics manage to find that balance through our pomanders.

That’s all for now....

Precious materials in jewellery; no longer gold & diamonds

All of Opulent Ethics’ time recently has been spent on the designs for our new range of pomanders which will be completed in the next few months. We have already written about the pomanders at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London which have inspired us and some of the processes that we are intending to use in the production of the pomanders.

We are now considering the materials which will reside within the pomanders. Part of our brief is to challenge the idea of “preciousness”. Within the jewellery industry precious materials include gold, the higher the carat the better, platinum, palladium, diamonds and gem stones. Pieces of jewellery made using these materials can have a very large price tag.

Opulent Ethics have always chosen ethically sourced materials over large scale mined materials but for this range we decided to push the boundaries of what is precious in jewellery further.

Having watched Kate Humble on her recent TV show about the Spice Trail, Opulent Ethics were left amazed at the history and origins of everyday spices such as nutmeg, vanilla and cinnamon. We all know that saffron is an expensive ingredient but we here at Opulent Ethics did not know about the back-breaking work and hours involved in growing, harvesting and preparing saffron and other such exotic spices for sale.



....cloves....



Kate Humble with nutmeg....

                 



....and cinammon



....saffron....



We also didn’t realise that empires had been built, wars fought and communities decimated over the west’s attempted possession of these spices. The more we watched Kate Humble working with local communities, using traditional techniques and just generally smiling her way along the spice trail, the more we got thinking about how these materials are as precious as gold and diamonds, just in a different way.

These materials also tie-in nicely with pomanders as these were originally made to store 4 – 6 strong smelling ingredients such as cloves, rose petals, ambergris and scented salves, as it was believed that these would ward off disease and keep the wearer healthy.

Opulent Ethics went off and did a bit of research into these spices and other food stuffs and alternative precious materials such as cotton and found that the prices of certain food groups have been rising for years. In 2008 the average price of food across all food groups rose by 8.3% in 8 months. This meant that, on average, a family of 4 could expect to pay an extra £750 per year on their food bill.

Whilst anything from poor harvest to natural disaster to war can affect the price of foodstuffs and other commodities, it is generally those on the poverty line which are most affected by food price increases. There are households the world over which spend over 80% of their income on food. In recent years we have seen an increase in protests, riots and poverty all stemming from increases in food prices.

So Opulent Ethics has come to the conclusion that, as the world is spun by money and the increase in gold prices has made the material even more precious then the same must be true for coffee, cotton, saffron, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg as all of these have seen significant increases in price in recent years. And, for this reason, Opulent Ethics will be considering each of these in turn in order to decide which will work best inside our precious pomanders.

Pop back in a few weeks to see which alternative precious materials Opulent Ethics chooses to challenge the idea of “preciousness” and why these materials were chosen. Now it’s time to get back to the drawing board and finish off our pomanders.

That’s all for now….



Opulent Ethics are sniffing out a new range

Opulent Ethics have started work on their most luxury range of ethical jewellery to date. The, as yet unnamed, range is inspired by pomanders and precious materials.

Last summer Opulent Ethics visited the Victoria and Albert Museum in London where we saw and fell in love with their range of pomanders. Since then we have been waiting for the right time to explore these amazing items further and develop an Opulent Ethics design.

Victoria & Albert Museum pomander

The pomander was most common during the 15^th and 16^th centuries. They are spheres made up of 6 segments, each of which opens. Inside each segment the wearer would store a different smelling item such as cloves, rose, sandalwood, nutmeg, scented oils and animal unguents. Their purpose was to protect the wearer against bad smells, which it was believed, caused disease and illness.

Pomanders are very decorative and were made up using complex hinges, exquisite materials and multiple artisanal processes. The outcome is beautiful, complicated pieces of heavy functional jewellery.

Whilst these original pomanders are motivating our designs, Opulent Ethics are looking to produce a range of more contemporary pomanders. Instead of being used to hold scent, our pomanders will be used to challenge the idea of preciouness by being made from ethically precious metals and by storing alternative precious materials.

Opulent Ethics is still at the design stage at the moment but check back soon for updates on how we are getting on.

That’s all for now….