About our Recycled Sterling Silver Items
“Using recycled silver sounds like such a small thing - but it has very large impacts on the environment … Not only does recycling silver use just 5% of the energy it would take to refine silver from ore, but it also eliminates the need for mining, mining waste and mining groundwater pollution.”
Haley Green. Argentium Global Sales. Magazine: The Modern Jeweller. Isssue1. 2023
We at Delmora® consider environmentally friendly practices an intrinsic driving force that must permeate everything we do. This is not an optional value. That’s why we decided to use FSC-certified packaging and prioritise recycled sterling silver for our fine jewellery.
Our main suppliers of recycled silver are located in Italy and France. Since 2023, they have been members of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), a British organisation that ensures responsible standards are upheld across the global jewellery and watch supply chain. Their Chain of Custody Standards (CoC) enables fully traceable and responsibly sourced practices.
Our suppliers certify that their Sterling silver material is made of nearly 80% recycled silver from various sectors such as jewellery, mobile phones, and the medical and automotive industries. The 20% silver that is not recycled is subject to extraction and treatment procedures that comply with RJC standards.
They also certify that their silver complies with the quality standards imposed by European directives, including EC regulation 1907/2006, known as REACH, which prohibits using nickel to manufacture silver articles.
All Delmora® items made of recycled Silver have the tag: Recycled sterling silver (RJC CoC).
Non-recycled Sterling Silver
Our third biggest supplier is a British manufacturing business based in Birmingham, England. This supplier has over 130 years of experience in the industry. In compliance with UK law, a British Assay Office hallmarks pieces from this supplier weighing over 7.78 grams. Their silver comes from various sources, mainly countries like India.
Delmora® items made with materials from this supplier have the tag: Sterling Silver.
How Delmora® uses these materials
Delmora® prioritises design over manufacturing, so over 95% of Delmora® products are designed in the UK.
Some are handmade in the UK, and some are made in Colombia by Delmora Colombia. These handmade items use findings such as jump rings, clasps, pendant loops, and earring backs. While Delmora® designs and produces the craftable part of the piece, it also uses findings from its suppliers.
Every Delmora® item involves human interaction in the manufacturing/assembly process. For non-handmade items, every piece is assembled by hand using components from different suppliers. Chains are cut, and findings are assembled to create new pieces according to the collection theme.
Once it has been decided to make a piece from recycled sterling silver, its components are not combined with those of non-recycled sterling silver. This is to facilitate traceability.
Delmora® also buys plates of sterling silver to cut them and create new pendant designs.
Explore our Recycled Sterling Silver pieces here.