by Natalie Drenth

Jewelry is an industry which has garnered a reputation for not being the most sustainable, according to Business of Fashion. The industry is slowly making improvements to workers rights and more emphasis is being placed upon the origins of precious stones. However, other trends are emerging in the sector and one trend is particularly worrying; shorter product cycle times. This trend is a business model which is more strongly associated with fast fashion, and has the potential to lead to more damaging supply chain practices. 

So how do we buy jewelry which we can guarantee is still made of a high quality but also made sustainably? We suggest you seek out individual jewelry designers and one brand who is carving out their own trends that we recommend is; Lylie’s. The London based jewelry brand is run by Eliza ‘Lylie’ Walter, who trained as a goldsmith in London’s Hatton Garden. Eliza uses salvaged gold and silver for all her designs and aims to produce jewelry that is classic, versatile and worth investing in. 

Eliza, you set up your jewelry brand in 2017 and studied your craft in London’s Hatton Garden. Do you have a specific piece of jewelry that inspired you to create your own designs and encouraged you to train as a goldsmith?

I’m not sure about a single piece of jewelry, but an exhibition at the Museum of London in 2013 resonated greatly with me, it was about the Cheapside Hoard. For anyone not familiar, it is a hoard of Elizabethan jewelry from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, discovered in 1912 by workmen excavating a cellar near Hatton Garden. To me, it was the perfect combination of history (providing a time capsule to contemporary taste), craftsman’s skills and the mystery of the buried treasure. 

Which of your jewelry designs is your favorite to make?

The bespoke pieces really get my creative juices going.

I enjoy when clients want to rework unworn designs that they have sitting at the bottom of their jewelry box. I love the idea of taking something forgotten & restoring it to life. I use a process called ‘Can Casting’, where the metal is cast in its own pot and design around what precious materials are already there. The ‘Barnacle Ring’ is an example which I have just finished. For a little over £1,000, Alison was able to recycle 6 pieces of jewelry she didn’t like into one ring that she will wear everyday. 

Making engagement rings is another favorite. I work with a network of incredibly talented craftspeople around Hatton Garden, Birmingham and the UK. I find it appealing that when creating an engagement ring, it will pass through 6 or 7 specialist workshops (mounted, setter, polisher etc.), in a symbiotic way, before it reaches the couple. To design and create something so symbolic and worn everyday, for years, is an honor.

When you started your brand did you always plan to be sustainable, do you think of yourself as a sustainable brand?

Yes and yes! I have always been driven by a belief that products should be made with respect for the planet and the people who populate it. 

Many of your jewelry designs are made from salvaged gold and silver, specifically e-waste. How did you become aware of these processes and what made you choose to focus upon e-waste? 

In order to cast my design for a school project I worked with a local foundry run by Peter Crump. Peter explained to me that mobile phones’ circuit boards contain gold, platinum and silver, because of the metals properties of being inert and conductive. We have been working together ever since, and his foundry, which has grown considerably, still cast all Lylie’s pieces.

I won a grant of £500 from the enterprise society at Bristol University, so I spent my second year researching my supply chain. That was 5 years ago!

You also use precious stones in your designs which tend to be man-made, marine cultured or recycled. Consumer attitudes towards man-made stones tend to be mixed, especially about diamonds. Some cite man-made stones as not being as valuable as natural diamonds. Do you think these attitudes are changing? For example, you do not call your diamonds ‘grown’ but opt for man-made instead; why is this?

My experience is that these attitudes are changing as consumers become more aware of the options and empowered to vote with their wallets. 

If you sat with a man-made and a newly-mined diamond (of the same cut, color, clarity and carat) it would be impossible for you to differentiate between them. The price point is 45% less then newly mined stones! All the man-made diamonds I use are sourced from MadeStones, in Antwerp, and the recycled antique diamonds from a family run diamond dealer in Hatton Garden, who sources from estate sales, scrap dealers and auctions. 

To me, the beauty of a stone cannot be divorced from the source. There is no beauty in cruelty. Even so-called “fair-mined” stones cannot be 100% assured of source. Ultimately, there are too many negatives. Tons of earth and countless hours of hard labour are needed to bring gems from mine to market; in many instances, workers are bonded labour to mine owners and working conditions are intolerable and at the extreme end of human rights violations. 

The obvious solution is to use either man-made (I use this turn of phrase to be crystal clear to customers) or recycled antique stones.

Do you think it is harder for jewelry brands to market themselves as sustainable and if so why is that?

My answer would have been different last year, but sustainability seems to have been the zeitgeist of 2018!

As a small independent brand, I feel hugely lucky to be operating in the age of Instagram where like minded customers from around the world can find us. I have focused a lot on Instagram this year, working with an amazing young photographer (who lives and breaths a sustainable lifestyle) called Chloe Winstanley, to create beautiful still life shots of the collection designs. I also make a concentrated effort to show the design process, workshop visits and finished bespoke designs on the stories. You can find us @lylieslondon.

What are your ambitions for the future of the brand?

The dream is to be the go-to jewelry brand for compassionate, conscious customers. I also hope that it becomes the norm for a customer, when considering a new purchase, to send the chosen brand all unworn/ unwanted/ broken pieces from their jewelry box, to be recycled in exchange for credit against the new piece.

Finally, if you were a precious stone which one would you be?

I am transfixed by aquamarines. Sea Treasures, our 2019 collection which just launched, was designed around oval aquamarines, unset from a client’s unwanted bracelet and also 2mm diamonds, recycled from a 1920’s 14ct cigarette box recycled by another client. 

When I look at an aquamarine, I see the depth of the sea and the glimmer of sun below the waves. Folk law has it that sailors at sea kept aquamarine amulets close for protection against the waves terrors, and I find that enticing too. 

Photography by Natalie Drenth