Opulent Ethics pendant wins second place in Charles Green competition

The School of Jewellery in Birmingham held a prize giving event last night to reveal the winners of the annual Charles Green / DFI competition. Now in its third year, the competition is held by Charles Green, a family run business in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, and entered by the School of Jewellery’s BA Design for Industry (DFI) students.

Competition entrants were given either 1 or 2 stones by Charles Green and the brief was to design and make a silver pendant or earrings using Computer Aided Design (CAD) technology.

There were 4 winners from the 18 entrants; Annie Li took first prize with her silver and gold plated Lotus pendant. She wins work experience with Charles Green as well as a monetary prize.

  

Opulent Ethics founder, Helen Dobson took second prize with her partly-oxidised (using boiled eggs), 100% recycled UK silver and Peridot Nepenthes pendant.

 

Opulent Ethics' Nepenthes Pendant

Third prize went to Sophie Waters for her pendant and an additional fourth prize went to Amy Roberts for the excellent marketing she did for her Giggle pendant.     

All pieces were also on sale during the event which was open to industry members and saw a presence from numerous Birmingham Jewellery Quarter companies including the Assay Office, the Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre (JIIC) and, of course, Charles Green. 

Opulent Ethics were very proud to accept their award which was for awareness of current trends, problem solving throughout the design process and the finished eye-catching piece.

Inspired by carnivorous pitcher plants and the beautiful green of the Peridot stone supplied by Charles Green, the Nepenthes pendant was created within Opulent Ethics’ ethical policy and used recycled silver rather than those metals used by other entrants.

To find out more about Opulent Ethics or our Nepenthes Range please visit our new wind-powered website;

www.opulentethics.com

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Opulent Ethics wind powered website finally arrives!

Yes that’s right…the Opulent Ethics website has finally been finished and is up and running. Hosted by Make Hay, a wind powered green hosting site, the website will now be a one stop shop for everything about Opulent Ethics.

You can now read all about Opulent Ethics, our interests and campaigns we lend our name to as well as receiving a live feed from the Opulent Ethics blog or visiting the Opulent Ethics shop.

So don’t delay, visit the Opulent Ethics website….

www.opulentethics.com

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Opulent Ethics invades Inhorgenta 2011

You may have noticed that Opulent Ethics have been missing this past week. That is because we were lucky enough to visit Inhorgenta, a jewellery trade fair in Munich. When we visited this time last year we returned completely inspired and blown away by all that we had seen. Sadly, this year this was not quite as inspirational.

Inhorgenta is a fabulous show with halls dedicated to design, commercial jewellery, technology, watches and gems but the general consensus seemed to be that what was on show this year was not as innovative as 2010.

There were many return visitors to the show as well as new designers who are just beginning their careers. For Opulent Ethics the most exciting hall was the design hall which was full of less commercial pieces and some students work.

For us here at Opulent Ethics, the stars of Inhorgenta definitely included:

Silvereira whose Eira range included some beautiful ethnic patterned earrings.

 Scenario's Eira Collection wooden earrings

 

William Cheshire’s Libertine pendants stood out from the crowd.

William Cheshire Libertine Pendant

And Ferran Iglesias used some very distinctive shapes in his work.

Atelier Ferran Iglesias' laserwelded Arracade Earrings

The more commercial hall was, once again, overpowered by Chamilia and Pandora, whose stands had turned into mini cities and were more imposing and less friendly and inviting than last year. Ti Sento also had a large presence. It was interesting to learn that Pandora actually started out as 1 small stand at Inhorgenta and is now the main player.

Whilst there, we attended some of the Trend and Branding talks which were interesting but not as informative or relevant to the jewellery industry as those at IJL last summer. We were also disappointed to see that there were no talks or debates concerning ethics whatsoever.

Opulent Ethics are now trying to use our Inhorgenta inspiration to come up with our next new range. Wish us luck!

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Opulent Ethics new Ivoire Innovantes range

You may have heard Opulent Ethics talking about the vegetable ivory that we have been experimenting and working with over the past few months?

Well here it is…Opulent Ethics’ latest Thai inspired range of jewellery; the Ivoire Innovantes Range.

Opulent Ethics' Prajam Yam vegetable ivory and 100% recyced UK silver ring

The range currently consists of 3 rings and 2 pairs of matching earrings. Each piece contains some vegetable ivory and is made using 100% recycled UK silver. There is also some Oro Verde 9 carat gold used in one of the pieces.

Opulent Ethics' Phoom Kao vegetable ivory and 100% recycled UK silver earrings

For those of you who don’t know, vegetable ivory, otherwise known as tagua nut, comes from the Amazonian tagua tree. Each nut is dried in the sun for between 6 – 8 weeks until it becomes hard.

Tagua nuts in their raw form 

The nut, once the skin is removed, is similar in colour to animal ivory but that is where the similarity stops. The tagua nut is a bi-product of the tagua tree whose roots are used in medicine, leaves are used for the roofing of houses in local communities and dust from the trees is also added to animal feed due to its high energy content.

The nut is very hard so is perfect for carving, milling, cutting, lasering, turning…anything that you want to try can be done. Opulent Ethics used a laser cutter-marker to shape and mark slices of our nut and the result gives a beautiful, slightly burnt appearance to the vegetable ivory…perfect!

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Love is in the Fair(trade) and it’s gold

The most romantic day of the year has been and gone but Valentines Day 2011 was like no other. No, Opulent Ethics was not inundated with sacks of cards, chocolates and roses…something much better happened. Yes, that’s right; Fairtrade and Fairmined gold finally arrived in the UK.

It has been a long journey for Fairtrade gold from leaving home in the Cotapata Mine, the worlds first Fairtrade mine, in Bolivia to arriving in the UK. Whilst some of us were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold many others were not even aware it was on its way. So Opulent Ethics have had a look at the welcome reception that the UK offered.

World's first Fairtrade Fairmined gold bar with hallmarks

The Daily Mail spoke at length about how Fairtrade gold will help stop the exploitation of some of the worlds most vulnerable communities by helping mines ensure they reach certain standard conditions. The only problem is that it is not so simple to change your local mine overnight. Hopefully the Cotapata Mine will be an inspiration to others to follow suit.

The Ecologist tried to focus on the future and mentioned some of the big names such as Ingle & Rhode and Garrards who have signed up to become license holders and work with the gold.

The full list of those who are now licensed to work using the Fairtrade gold can be found on the site of the Jewellery Editor.

It was all finance, facts and figures in The Telegraph as they concentrated on how the Fairtrade food revolution worked and whether the gold can carry on the trend.

The Independent looked at which celebrities we can expect to see wearing Fairtrade gold jewellery (Livia Firth is rumoured to be intending to wear it on the red carpet at the Oscars).

And finally, Kate Carter, ethical extraordinaire with The Guardian, let rip with a long piece on the real intention of all Fairtrade products; to stop the abject horror faced by those who get us our coffee, bananas and now gold.

It is nice to see that, despite the story not gaining as much attention as it deserves that it has been done some justice!

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Ute Decker and Linnie McLarty’s pop-art!

Everything has a “pop” to it these days…pop tarts, pop art, pop music, even pop-up shops and the latest is a pop up gallery. Taking place on

Columbia Road

in Hackney, an area renowned for its sweet smelling Sunday Flower Market this month long exhibition space definitely has the snap, crackle and pop!

Opulent Ethics were lucky enough to be invited to the preview evening on Thursday where we got to view some of the first Fairtrade gold nuggets which goes on sale on Monday 14^th February.

Both Ute Decker’s and Linnie McLarty’s jewellery looked stunning in its new home in Gallery 94 at 94 Columbia Road. There had been an amazing transformation of the space from, what is normally, a fully-functioning workshop, into a sleek, clean beautiful display space for the 2 designer-makers.

Both Ute and Linnie created new pieces which will be produced in the world’s first Fairtrade gold from Cotapata Mine in Bolivia, when it becomes available on Valentines Day. Alongside these beautiful new pieces were ranges of Ute Decker’s sculptural jewellery made from recycled silver and sunflower bio-resin and Linnie McLarty’s colourful, enamelled, clever brooches and hand-made jewellery.

Ute Decker's PURE Arm Sculpture in gold

Linnie McClarty's Brooch

So how did the jewellery look in Fairtrade gold? Did it have an extra sparkle to it? Ute believes that;

“you first fall in love with this jewellery because of the beauty, boldness, and uniqueness of it‘s appearance, and then you learn about it’s inner beauty and ethical make-up and fall in love all over again”.

And Opulent Ethics has to agree. This new gold signifies actual improvements in the lives and environment of mining communities.

And it certainly seems to have got people talking. Esteemed guests at the event included Maurice Mullen from the Evening Standard, Laura McCreddie Editor at Retail Jeweller, Muriel Wilson from the Association of Contemporary Jewellery, Victoria Waugh from the Fairtrade Foundation and Della Tinsley, the Managing Director of London Jewellery Week.

But, more importantly, Juana Pena Endora from the Cotapata Cooperative in Bolivia, the world's first Fairtrade and Fairmined mine, and Manuel Reinoso Rivas, a Peruvian miner and Vice-Chair for the Alliance for Responsible Mining in Peru were in attendance. Both miners had experienced flying and left their respective countries for the first time to take part in the release of Fairtrade gold in the UK. So far they have attended and spoken at events in London, met with those who will be working with the gold, such as Weston Beamor who will be licensed to cast using the gold, at Birmingham’s Jewellery Show and, when we spoke to them, were on their way to Wales to see how mining in the UK compares to that at home.

Opulent Ethics thinks that it was truly valuable and inspiring to see and meet these people who work day and night to acquire the materials that we use to produce our work. These are the people who are fighting to make changes for themselves and their communities and are the people that initiatives, such as Fairtrade gold, is trying to reach. We think that it is time for the curtain to rise and for names and faces to be put to the millions of people who are involved in small-scale, artisanal mining and who have been anonymous for too long.   

For both Juana and Manuel their journey seems to have been an eye-opening education but, hopefully, may have reassured them that they are not alone in their fight. Some of the biggest names in jewellery are now coming together to improve the chances of Fairtrade gold and, by default, those whose lives are entangled in its production.

During the evening Juana was presented with one of Linnie’s silver Chrysanthemum rings which she had tried on in gold earlier in the evening. This generous gift by Linnie was met with incredulity and tears. Hopefully it will be taken back to Bolivia as a symbol of the hope and faith that we all have in the success of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold and, more importantly, in the belief that we can all work together to improve the lives of Juanas and Manuels everywhere.   

      

 

Juana Pena Endora wearing Linnie McClarty's Chrysanthemum Ring in gold

For further information and photos of the evening please see Ute Decker’s website. For other stories regarding the release of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold please see the Professional Jeweller website. And if you wish to see the beautiful jewellery for yourself, Gallery 94 is open until Sunday 27^th February and is definitely worth a look.

That’s all for now….

Birmingham’s Spring Fair lacks in the ethics department

Opulent Ethics visited the 2011 Spring Fair at Birmingham’s NEC this week where there were over 400 exhibitors at the Jewellery Show section with new designers and big names rubbing shoulders.
Despite all of this we were disappointed by the lack of anything much ethical on the agenda. 

26 free seminars including trend talks, information on marketing for e-commerce and lectures on Intellectual Property rights were available but, sadly, only 1 of these concerned ethics. Opulent Ethics find it very strange that there was so much interest in ethics at IJL 2010 back in September and then come February of the following year, on the eve of Fairtrade gold being released the only mention is 1 talk on the pro’s and con’s of buying Fair Trade.

Of course there were some wonderful pieces of jewellery on show, especially in the Design Section, and it was great to find that there were some ethical exhibitors including Sara Preisler, Leju Designs, Earth Works and Out of Peru but we felt that we really had to search them out.

Sara Preisler pendant

Sarah Ho Mari earrings

James Newman rings

  

We here at Opulent Ethics think that it is a great shame that one of the biggest jewellery shows in the UK is not acknowledging one of the biggest issues in the jewellery trade and not making a point of highlighting a very important section of the trade.

So did we manage to find any evidence of other companies changing their ethics? Yes we did. After noticing some advertising on the side of the Weston Beamor stand and chatting to some of the staff we were pleasantly surprised to hear that Weston Beamor are now fully licensed to cast using Fairtrade gold. One disadvantage, however, is that anyone who wishes to cast using the gold also has to be licensed. Things are never easy or straightforward!

And elsewhere in the news; in Retail Jeweller magazine we managed to find a 55 word article on Ute Decker and Linnie McLarty’s Fairtrade gold pop-up shop which opens this week and a letter from Greg Valerio regarding the great work that ARM and FLO have done in bringing the Fairtrade gold idea to fruition. What is happening to this world when big news like the release of Fairtrade gold barely hits page 17 let alone the headlines?!   

That’s a very disappointed all for now….