These upcycled jewelry brands demonstrate that reusing can be ravishing!
By Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
Decades ago when we thought of the world of luxury fashion, we thought of excess. We thought of ostentation. It was the era of ‘greed is good’ – and damn the consequences.
Since then, we’ve learned the results of that attitude all too well: climate change, planetary destruction and inequality. Luckily, today, both luxury brands and consumers have since reformulated their approach to luxury in order to be gentler on the planet.
For example, consumers are more than happy to sell their unused designer goods to online shops. When you realise how much unworn jewelry you have, you can even try selling your diamonds to companies that can reuse them. And today, we don’t consider buying used clothing or jewelry to be any less luxurious than buying brand new.
High-end jewelers are also happy to purchase pre-loved gems and metals to skilfully re-work them into new, unique creations.
For example? Just take a look at these upcycled jewelry brands, below and tell me they’re anything but exquisite!
10 Truly Luxurious Upcycled Jewelry Brands
1. Octavia Elizabeth
This is by far one of the most luxurious upcycled jewelry brands around! All of Octavia Elizabeth’s fine jewelry is carefully crafted in the label’s atelier. The designer creates delicate, fashionable pieces from upcycled gold and gemstones. She offers a wide range of accessories, from perfect gold hoop earrings to casual cord bracelets.
Spotted on A-listers including Gigi Hadid and Jessica Alba, these dainty styles are made with elegance, wearability and timelessness in mind. They’re perfect everyday signatures that you’ll wear for years to come.
Price range: Medium
Best for: Delicate pieces that celebrities love
2. Ludmilla Unconventional Jewelry
Vintage loving designer Ludmilla Navarro has created one of the most original upcycled jewelry brands around! She loves browsing flea markets, garage sales and any other hidden corners where she can find abandoned treasures to upcycle into her wearable art.
“My jewels are a tribute to those women who know what they want, who are seductive, free, and powerful. These women are as unique as my pieces,” she says, and we’d concur. Ludmilla’s unconventional jewels best suit unconventional beauties. Iris Apfel, are you reading this…?
Price range: Low
Best for: Statement pieces with a lot of character
3. KBH Jewels
KBH Jewels is an NYC-based sustainable fine jewelry collection. Most items are made from reclaimed metals, including gold, as well as lab-grown diamonds and sustainably cultured South Sea pearls.
But this is one of those upcycled jewelry brands that takes sustainability beyond what it sells. For example, everything that KBH produces, supplies, and ships – from jewelry to packaging – is sourced from ethical, sustainable, and reclaimed methods.
They say: “If luxury means the best of everything – design, materials and craftsmanship – it also must mean what is best for the health of the world and all living things.” And we’d agree!
Price range: High
Best for: Timeless elegance
4. Bijoux Upcycled
We love the concept of this Toronto-based company! Bijoux Upcycled is one of the coolest upcycled jewelry brands around. They not only give vintage pieces a second life, but they make pre-loved pieces posh.
Whether it’s a broken Louis Vuitton bag toggle transformed into a pendant necklace, or a bunch of mate-less Chanel earrings turned into a charm bracelet, there’s something unique here you’ll fall in love with!
Price range: Low
Best for: Label lovers
5. Dana Bronfman
Dana creates beautiful luxurious jewelry using recycled 18 karat gold, sterling silver, conflict-free diamonds, and ethically-sourced gemstones. She carefully scrutinises the source of each material, recycles all waste from her studio, and aims to be fully transparent about her design and manufacturing processes.
Each piece reflects something that inspired the designer. This could be anything from the strong angles of industrial bridges, to the layered sparkles of diamonds seen sprinkled across the night sky. Basically, this is one of those upcycled jewelry brands that tells visual stories through high-end accessories.
Price range: High
Best for: Weddings, luxury gifting
6. Hepburn & Hughes
Taking something old and making it new is the ethos behind the jewelry brand Hepburn & Hughes. Understanding that some of the best items are handcrafted by humans, they scour antique stores for treasures that can be upcycled to create something unusual and bespoke, making the perfect gift for men and women.
Many of their items are seeped in history, such as their signature range of cufflinks which uses fragments of the Berlin Wall as well as copper and oak from HMS victory. Their range also makes use of ancient fossils and gemstones found all over the world, turning them into affordable, modern day treasures.
Price range: Low to mid
Best for: Unique statement jewelry with a traceable history
7. Crash Jewelry
While it’s a pretty safe bet to say not all of us can afford a Ferrari or Lamborghini, it’s far more likely that we can afford upcycled jewelry made from luxury cars, right? And that’s exactly what Crash Jewelry specialises in!
This is one of the few upcycled jewelry brands that allows you to own a bit of the auto without having to worry about parking space. Each piece made by Crash is comprised of upcycled parts from prestige cars, making Crash’s unisex accessories the perfect gift for the petrol head in your life.
Whether it’s a Ferrari bumper cuff, Mercedes logo pendant or Lamborghini door cufflinks, anything Crash creates is bound to be a hit. Pardon the pun!
Price range: Low
Best for: Unique gifts for those who adore luxury cars
8. Vena Amoris
Bespoke, ethical and sustainable are the three keywords that describe Vena Amoris. This is one of the best known upcycled jewelry brands for repurposing old gems into new rings. In fact, the designer behind Vena Amoris, Tesia Alexandra, has received several accolades for her work. These include being a Martha Stewart American Made Finalist, for example.
Alexandra’s raw, whimsical designs find their inspiration in the religious art of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. But for us, they carry more of an organic, temporary vibe. Whether you’re after an engagement or wedding ring made from upcycled diamonds and metals, or just want to treat yourself to a few unique rings to stack, Vena Amoris offers both ready-to-ship and custom-made pieces.
Price range: Medium
Best for: Unusual wedding and engagement rings
9. Foundrae Jewelry
With its upcycled diamonds and metals, each piece from the Foundrae Collection is meant to act as a modern heirloom. But that’s not all. According to the brand itself: “The Foundrae collection is intended to become part of the wearer, a second skin, to be an expression of identity and of personal values.“And given how the brand is sustainable due to its practice of upcycling materials, one of those ‘personal values’ of the surely also pertains to ecological protection.
We love how Foundrae infuses its designs with meaning through symbols. For example, recycled gold Egyptian scarab beetles represent protection, while ouroboros signify rejuvenation.
Price range: High
Best for: Jewelry with a mystical touch
10. Upcycle With Jing
When you think of jewelry, precious metals and diamonds probably come to mind. But one designer is taking plastic and using it to create one of the most unique upcycled jewelry brands around. Meet Jing Wang, founder of Upcycle With Jing.
She handcrafts each item from PET plastic bottles that she finds on the streets of Helsinki. Inspired by nature, her bespoke pieces are a tribute to the delicateness of various flowers. Whether you choose a headband, ring or earrings, you’ll see in Jing’s work that there is beauty in simplicity.
Price range: Low
Best for: Everyday, upcycled jewelry and accessories
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