Labels to Watch: Green jewellery brands that tell a story

Streets and cafés are filling up again. When they go out in the evenings or at weekends, many people increasingly wish to adorn themselves - preferably without a bad conscience. These three labels offer not only more sustainable earrings, necklaces and bracelets but also beautiful stories that retailers can tell their customers.

Moesk

The mother and daughter duo of Kiki and Jet Moes are behind the Dutch Moesk label. It all started with the compliments that product designer Kiki received for the earrings that her mother had made for her. At the start, Jet made the pieces of jewellery that they designed together and Kiki handled the online shop and photos. Now Kiki also makes accessories and the trademark continues to be the minimalist earrings with which it all started. In addition, there are chains, bracelets and rings. The beads and ribbons in the collection originate from their grandmother’s handicraft cupboard and the silver and gold used were either mined responsibly or recycled.

The basis for the designs of Moesk, which was founded in 2018, is simple: The jewellery pieces consist of lines and forms that a 0.8 millimeter diameter silver wire can take. The earrings wrap around the ears like a minimalist sculpture. “Why only use the space on the earlobe when the space behind the ear can provide dimensionality and surprises?”, is how Kiki and Jet Moes explain their concept. Mother and daughter find inspiration for the lines that their jewellery takes on joint trips, in museums, in a neighbor’s house, or in Kiki’s son’s drawings.

The wire itself also offers unexpected inspiration. “The wire jumps, twists, and bends where it wants to go and sometimes we think: Oh stop! And like this sometimes a new model for the next collection is born in a split second”, say mother and daughter. In the future, the two would like to expand their minimalist design to other products such as home accessories, preferably in collaboration with potters and fashion or interior design brands.

Best seller: “Definitely the Arc!”, Kiki and Jet said. The medium-sized, easy-to-wear earring is sold as an individual item and often in combination with the Round Mid, Oval Small or Cube earring.

Target group: Customers of any age group that value craftsmanship, sustainability and products with stories

Sales points: 19 boutiques, mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium, and also in Germany, Ireland and Japan.

Sales: Kiki and Jet Moes (direct email)

Prices: From 19.95 euro for an earring to 99.95 euro for a chain

Dear Darling Berlin

Founded in 2020, the label Dear Darling Berlin stands for timeless and simple classics from sustainable manufacture. With its curb and ball chain necklaces or silver and gold hoop earrings, the Berlin-based label hopes to cater to a market niche between inexpensive fashion jewellery and high-priced luxury jewellery.

The jewellery of Dear Darling Berlin is made in Germany and Italy. The label works only with manufacturers certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) and uses mainly recycled silver. What is more, Dear Darling Berlin is already working on a collection with sustainable diamonds cultured in a laboratory, as founder Lisa Zaiser reveals.

She wants to support women who set up businesses and she presents a female founder with her vision, her story and her business idea in the Female Founder Stories on Dear Darling Berlin’s monthly blog. In addition, Zaiser donates a percentage of the annual turnover to social organisations.

Best sellers: Luise chokers, Therese, Liz and Lou necklaces and bracelets of the same name

Target group: Women aged between 20 and 55 who value quality and sustainability

Sales points: To date via her own webshop and two stores in Berlin; partnerships with boutiques and larger department stores are being sought.

Sales: via Lisa Zaiser.

Prices: From 45 euros for a bracelet to 149 euros for a necklace

Upcycle with Jing

At first glance, it’s hard to believe that the transparent elements of the earrings from Finnish label Upcycle with Jing are made of recycled PET plastic bottles, in other words waste. The delicate aesthetic of her jewellery is inspired by designer Jing Wang’s Chinese background. The raw material that gives her jewellery its special lightness comes from her present neighbourhood in Helsinki. Wang works with disposable bottles gathered from local households and with the aid of the heat from a candle she gives the plastic a new life in floral form.

After studying product design in China, Wang worked in her adopted homeland with the upcycling of disposable bottles and, in addition to her work as a graphic designer, set up her own jewellery label in 2017. In Finland itself, her work has become known in recent years thanks to influencers and local celebrities. She is currently working on expanding the area she collects from around Helsinki so as to recycle more bottles. Currently, the metal parts of her earrings are made of silver and gold-plated copper. She cannot yet trace the source of the copper but she intends to become more sustainable in this area too.

“Our long term, big vision is, within the next 15 years, we see ourselves as a leading voice in a community of upcyclers, with the goal of annually transforming a minimum of 80 tons of unused waste into valuable products”, said Wang in an email. "As for myself, I’m trying to prove that one person's waste can truly become another person's treasure, which is a positive change.”

Best sellers: Jasmine double flower drop earrings, Clear Lily double flower drop earrings, Delicate Floral Moon earrings, Triple Jasmine drop earrings, Jasmine Triple Flower necklace

Target group: Women aged between 25 and 50 who especially value design and sustainability

Sales points: 13 stores in Finland, one in the United Kingdom and four online dealers as well as their own webshop

>Sales: Jing Wang (direct email)

Prices: From 36 Euros for a pair of earrings to 56 Euros for a chain with pendant

This article was translated from German