How might a collaborative approach between maker and wearer yield sustainable `end-user' relationships with jewellery?

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing movement within contemporary jewellery that engages notions of sustainability. Part of this movement has involved focusing on the ethical concerns surrounding jewellery manufacture and production, from precious metal mining and gemstone sourcing through to studio techniques, including recycling, chemical reduction, and energy use. While these issues are imperative because of their social and environmental impacts, many jewellers focus solely on the role of the designer in ethical jewellery making. By contrast, my research examines the role of the wearer in accepting responsibility for their consumption habits. This exegesis explores how maker and wearer can collaborate in various ways to create ongoing, sustainable relationships between the wearer and their jewellery.