Now using 100% recycled gold, silver and platinum
At Mahailia Jewellery Design we are passionate about making beautiful, ethical bespoke jewellery that is socially and environmentally friendly. We take great care in sourcing the most ethically produced materials available.
Being a small company means we have full control of the labour involved in making each piece of jewellery. The majority of our jewellery is hand made on site, by ourselves. Any work we out source is crafted by a small team of expert craftsmen within Scotland and the UK. We feel it is important to keep specialist trades alive within the UK and try to use UK industries where ever possible.
Metals:
All materials used to make jewellery come from the Earth.
Unfortunately mining can be a very dirty business and the production of one gold ring from industrial mining will generate five tons of environmental waste, contaminating water and lands which endangers the health and lives of humans and animals.
The negative impacts of mining have forced people to take a long, hard look at where their products come from, how they are made and to what extent they are impacting the Earth and its people.
100% Recycled Gold, Platinum and Silver
We source our metals from an Earth-minded refining and manufacturing company who pride themselves in being socially and environmentally responsible. They refine metal from the large existing supply of gold, silver and platinum that has already been mined, meaning there is no more damage done to the Earth or people to produce your jewellery. Once these metals are refined back to their pure form they are physically no different to newly mined metals so they are independently audited and certified as 100% recycled.
Our Refiners share with us a common view that it is our moral obligation to protect the environment by conserving energy and recycling and to continually respect basic human rights around the world.
Mahailia Jewellery Design fully support Oxfam's ‘No Dirty Gold’ campaign, please visit their website for an overview of the social, environmental and economic impacts of gold mining.
Diamonds:
Recycled Diamonds
The most eco-friendly natural diamonds available
Approximately 4.5 billion carats of diamonds have been extracted from the ground since large scale mining efforts began in South Africa in the 1870's. This means many millions of diamonds are part of the world's existing, above ground, supply of diamonds.
In order to reduce environmentally damaging mining practices, we are proud to use recycled diamonds wherever possible.
If we are not able to source an appropriate recycled diamonds for your jewellery we also offer:
Certified, conflict free, diamonds from the Canadian Arctic. These diamonds are mined in the Canadian North and are responsibly cut and polished. Their production and sale are subject to strict standards, set out by the Canadian Code of Conduct, CanadaMark, and the Government of the Northwest Territories, designed to protect the Arctic environment, mine workers and local employees. Known for their sparkle and clarity, Canadian diamonds rank among the most spectacular diamonds currently available.
Conflict free diamonds
With all jewellery items bought from Mahailia Jewellery Design containing diamonds we will supply the following affirmative statement on all receipts, valuations and documentation;
'Keep diamonds free of conflict'
The diamonds herein invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict in compliance with United Nations resolutions. The seller hereby guarantees that these diamonds are conflict free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the supplier of these diamonds.
In recent years people have become much more aware of diamonds being used to fund conflict within war torn countries such as Angola and Sierra Leone. These concerns have led to the introduction of ‘The Kimberly process’ which aims to eliminate conflict diamonds from legitimate trade.
The film ‘Blood Diamond’ has also brought this issue very much into the public’s eye making them aware of the impact of their purchases - this really has pushed the issue much further along which we think is a fantastic example of the power and impact the arts can have.
We strongly support the Kimberly process and guarantee all our diamonds are conflict free.
Coloured Gem Stones:
Because of the media focus on the diamond industry a lot of people are still unaware of similar problems within the coloured gem stone trade.
We source our Rubies and Sapphires from RubyFair, a company who have a small mine in Tanzania who produce low environmental impact Fair Trade gemstones. Please see their website for more details.
Our suppliers of other coloured gemstones personally visit the mines and factories where our gemstones are processed to be able to guarantee our stones are free from conflict, child labour and unnecessary usage of pollutants and that the working conditions of miners, cutters and polishers are good. This is vitally important considering the average working lifespan of a Chinese miner, for example, is only three years.
In short, we strongly believe that the only way to be involved in the process of creating beautiful bespoke pieces of jewellery is with a strong ethical approach to the whole process. We are constantly striving to improve our supply chain and our working practices.
