Oria is a socially and environmentally committed jewellery
company dedicated to making fine jewellery following ethical principles.
We design and make all our jewellery in our London based studio. Our collections vary from the delicate and feminine to the
bold and striking.
About Oria
Oria was formed in 2007 by Tania Kowalski and Synnove
Saelthun. Having worked within the jewellery industry for a combined 25 years, they
became increasingly concerned with the environmental and social impact of
mining and production within the jewellery industry and with the lack of
transparency within the supply chain. They created Oria to put their concerns
into practice.
Tania Kowalski
Tania was born in Edinburgh
and grew up travelling extensively. Through her travels she developed a keen
interest in indigenous cultures, particularly in tribal adornment. This
interest led her to enrol on a four year BA in Jewellery & Silversmithing
at London Guildhall University,
from which she graduated in 1993. She then spent six months in Nepal working
in a fairly traded jewellery workshop. On returning to London, she has specialized as a jewellery
workshop manager for several well known companies.
Synnove Saelthun
Synnove was born in Norway and spent most of her
childhood close to nature. Inspired by her travels in India, she
developed a passion for jewellery. She graduated as a qualified goldsmith from
the Plus College in Fredrikstad in 1996. On
graduating, she co-founded the AIDA-jewellery studio in Oslo. After several years at AIDA, Synnove
studied advanced jewellery design & techniques at The Fashion Institute of
Technology in New York
and worked for a prominent New York jewellery designer. In 2002, she
moved to London
where she now works as a designer and goldsmith.
Ethics
At Oria we are dedicated to making beautiful, fine jewellery
in a socially responsible way, and we are passionate about respecting nature.
We take the greatest care in sourcing the most ethically produced materials
available.
In doing this, we support small-scale, fair-trade companies which
have good working conditions, pay decent wages and do not engage in the use of
child labour.
The metals, diamonds and coloured stones that we use can all
be traced from the mine to the consumer.
We apply ethical principles to the whole of our business, for
example using recycled paper and fabric for our packaging.
Metals
Modern mining techniques have little respect for our natural
world and few social concerns for the miners. Open pit mines have disastrous
effects on the local environment, often displacing communities and destroying
traditional livelihoods.
We source our gold from small alluvial (hand panning)
cooperative mines in Argentina,
(Eco Andina) and Mexico
(Los Cuatro Amigos). These mines do not use toxic substances such as cyanide
and mercury. Disposal of these environmentally harmful substances often leaks
into the surrounding environment, polluting rivers, lakes, seas and the
underlying water tables.
Our jewellery is made in 18ct yellow gold. This comprises
75% ethically sourced fine gold mixed with 25% alloy of silver, copper and
zinc. We are constantly striving to improve our supply chain and are looking
for ethical suppliers of alloys and gold chain. If you are a supplier or manufacturer
who can help us, we would love to hear from you.
Diamonds
Over the past years there has been much concern about the
use of diamonds to fund conflicts within war torn countries such as Sierra Leone
and Angola.
These concerns have led to the Kimberley which aims to prevent conflict diamonds from
entering the legitimate trade.
We strongly support the Kimberley process. www.kimberleyprocess.com However, as it is
currently implemented it does not provide a detailed trace of the origin of
individual diamonds. Nor does it provide assurances of the social and
environmental impact of their mining and manufacture.
Our diamonds are sourced from the Liqhobong Mine, a fair-trade
cooperative in The Kingdom of Lesotho, South Africa. They are cut in a fairly
traded cooperative workshop in Surat,
India. We
guarantee that they are produced conflict free, corruption free, without the
use of child labour, and under clean working, social and environmental
conditions.
Coloured Gemstones
Our gemstones originate from two main sources. Our
tourmalines come from the Soares family mine and cutters in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Other
stones come from the Kurase Ruby Mine and the Voi Area in Kenya and the Umba Valley
in Tanzania,
and are cut in Nairobi, Kenya.
The miners and stone cutters are paid a good living wage and
work in safe conditions. None of our stones are chemically treated or artificially enhanced.
COLLECTIONS
Bibbi
We named this collection, with its natural beauty, after
Synnove’s sister Bibbi. Its subtle and delicate forms echo the magic of the
Norwegian woods. They are as gentle and feminine as Bibbi herself.
Nina
This collection reflects the bold and beautiful personality
of Tania’s sister Nina.
Its design is based on the Chinese phoenix, a mythical bird
of fire, so gentle that it crushes nothing, signifying honesty, justice and high
moral values.