RESPONSIBLE JEWELRY
For us, «sustainability» is not just an empty marketing promise. That is why we focus on full transparency in every phase of our work and are committed to responsible and local jewelry production every day - from our designs to the final touches. Learn everything about the creation of our jewelry.
LOCAL PRODUCTION AND RECYCLED GOLD
Our design process begins with hand sketches or photorealistic visualizations created by Ann. Her visions are then either handcrafted by our partner goldsmith in Zurich or constructed by our 3D designer. The latter are printed in wax and then cast by a family business in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. After that, the jewelry is cleaned and polished by hand. The gemstones we select are then hand-set into our designs by specialized stone setters in Switzerland. Here we rely on independent experts who are specialized in the respective stone setting. Switzerland as a production location stands for the highest precision and quality, giving us the best starting point to create pieces of jewelry that will accompany our customers for a lifetime. Supporting local craftsmanship while offering our customers the best possible quality on the market fills us with joy. Furthermore, we are concerned about doing our best to protect our planet. For our creations we therefore use only gold recycled in Switzerland, which is the most sustainable gold option according to WWF. We do not source precious metals directly from mines.
ADDITIONS TO THE ASSORTMENT
Our jewelry assortment is mainly composed of self-made pieces - except for our creoles with hinges, our gold and silver necklaces as well as our tennis bracelets. Hinged creoles and other hinged jewelry are very complex and expensive to produce. In order to sell them at competitive prices, they must be produced in large quantities, which unfortunately is not possible for us as a small business. Necklaces are also machine-made today for economic reasons. In addition, there is no longer a company in Switzerland that makes necklaces for the jewelry industry. For this reason, we purchase our gold creoles as well as our gold chains from two Swiss dealers from Lucerne and the Canton of Zurich. The tennis bracelets as well as the pavé earrings we purchase from one of our Swiss diamond dealers. The silver creoles and necklaces come from our two dealers in Germany and England.
GEMSTONES AND DIAMONDS
We work with all types of diamonds - from imperfect stones to excellently graded diamonds, as well as white and colored gemstones. Our engagement rings are especially personalized. We start with a stone selection specifically tailored to the customer’s preferences. The ring and setting are then made to the dimensions of the stone. For our engagement rings, we also offer a much wider range of different gemstones and diamond colors than well-known jewelers. In addition to the classic white diamonds, for example, we often use diamonds in champagne or yellow tones as well as with visible inclusions. We also enjoy working with our clients' stones, giving them new life by reinterpreting them in our designs.
When it comes to gemstones, our highest motto is absolute transparency. We will provide our clientele with all the information we have on the respective stones. In addition, all our stone dealers are members of the Responsible Jewelry Council and have signed the Kimberley Process. In doing so, they commit themselves to fair trade and not to purchase stones that have been mined under conditions that are undignified for people and nature. We generally differentiate between three different types of commercially available stones: "New mined" Gemstones, Vintage Stones and Lab Grown Gemstones.
"NEW MINED" GEMSTONES
These gemstones are newly mined in mines around the world and are then put on the market. In some cases it is possible to trace these stones back to the mine. Especially for larger diamonds the information about the origin is becoming more and more available. Unfortunately, with smaller and/or less valuable stones, it is often the case that the effort for exact tracing would be too great, which is why their place of origin often remains unknown. If customers are looking for a stone from a specific country such as Canada, Australia, Botswana, Sri Lanka, Brazil or Russia, we have the possibility to search specifically for stones from these countries. However, in such a case the choice of matching gemstones will be significantly limited in favor of the origin.
VINTAGE STONES
These stones were mined within the past 720 years. Antique stones that were cut before the introduction of precision cutting are often recognized by their somewhat irregular cut, which has fewer facets than modern stone cuts. Antique stone cuts like the Old European Cut, the Rose Cut or the Old Mine Cut were cut from about 1300 to 1930. There is something romantic about them and they are designed to sparkle beautifully, especially in candlelight. From 1930 onwards, the cut changed to a much more precise, multi-faceted cut. Whether gemstones were taken out of the earth five years ago or 100 years ago - they have one thing in common: Because of their high value, they always come back into trade when the former owner no longer has any use for them. So due to the value of the stones, recycling has always been widespread in this industry. However, since there has only been intensive investment in the traceability of gemstones for the past few years, all older stones are unfortunately excluded from this. Many precious stones and diamonds have changed owners many times before without losing any of their original glow. This aspect gives them an individual history, which is why we encourage reuse. However, the paths of such stones are almost always untraceable, so we accept a missing certificate of origin in order not to encourage unnecessary mining of additional stones. That is why we are happy to work with stones that already belong to our customers.
LAB GROWN GEMSTONES
Lab-grown diamonds are created using state-of-the-art technology. The process mimics the conditions under which natural diamonds develop. Because lab-grown diamonds are made from the same material and exposed to the same conditions as natural diamonds, the two stones are visually and chemically identical. In terms of price, lab-created diamonds today cost an average of 30% less than natural stones. In addition, there is no major impact on nature, nor do the stones have to be mined by humans under difficult conditions. However, it takes more energy to grow a lab diamond than to extract it from the earth. Also, we cannot say today how their value will develop, since their production is not finite compared to gemstones from the earth. We are happy to work with lab diamonds for our customers and advise them on this.