Our most ethical and environmentally friendly diamond option are our heirloom diamonds. These are diamonds that have been previously worn, or are found in vintage pieces of jewellery, that have been passed down through generations. We remove the diamonds from their original settings, sometimes re-polish or recut them, and then re-purpose them in new designs.
Heirloom Diamonds: Antique cut diamonds come in two primary cuts: Old European cut, and Old Miner cut. The Old European cut is generally late 1800’s - early 1900’s. Old Miner is pre late 1800’s. The brilliant cut, which is the standard diamond cut in today’s industry, was developed in 1919, and is essentially a mathematical equation of facets to give ultimate brilliance. We don’t always have origins with these stones, but they are by far the most environmentally friendly natural diamond option.
While we are continuing our efforts to work directly with artisanal diamond miners, we are still struggling to build direct and traceable sourcing. Our diamonds come from all of the same places that every ‘conflict free’ and ‘fair trade’ diamond supplier claims to get their diamonds.
Our gold is sourced through two primary avenues. The first, a relationshi we have We have a direct source our gold than for much larger competitors. Our gold is sourced either through a single artisanal miner. He uses a metal detector to find gold nuggets, which are pure enough for us to melt down without needing to refine them. This results in a low environmental impact on the environment, as the gold nuggets are generally found at surface level and require minimal effort to unearth. The remainder of our gold is all recycled and repurposed metal, which we source through a local manufacture.
We manufacture our pieces right in our studio in Ottawa, in combination with using printing, casting, and setting services in Toronto and Montreal.
The stones are sourced and designs are done by our small in house team of designers.
Our pieces are custom created around each and every single stone. This means that you receive the highest possible quality manufacturing for each piece, which is custom tailored to your exact stone settings. We also use a signifiant amount of gold with each piece, ensuring that each ring will last you a lifetime.
Our custom work is designed to be similar in price to our stock items. This means, you are generally not being charged for the design time, but strictly manufacturing costs. After our initial consultation, we provide two design renderings free of charge that we will continue to modify to be sure it is exactly what you have in mind. Once you have confirmed your rendering, we take a deposit and begin your manufacturing. Custom design is a 4 - 8 week process depending.
Please ask us for specific instructions, as cleaning will vary based on your metals, stones, and design.
We only offer repairs and sizings on our own manufactured pieces, we do not offer a general repair service.