As well as the tagua jewellery we designed for Laura Ashley this season, we have also designed a range of brass and silver plated jewellery, made by the talented artisans we work with at the
Flowering Desert Project in India. We have been collaborating with this all-female artisan group for several years and knew they would make the jewellery to a high standard. This work is crucial in providing the ladies with access to counselling, healthcare, advice on money management and help with educating their children.
As is the case in Ecuador, the process of creating jewellery by hand in India also takes great skill
and is labour intensive. The brass goes through many stages before it’s ready for the shop
floor, as can be seen above. Firstly, it’s roughly cut to size, the desired shape of the design is glued on to the brass and holes are drilled so that this design can be cut out by hand from the metal. Once cut out, the edges of each piece are filed and sanded and, if required, hammered texture is added. Finally, the metal is polished and any beaded details are added before it’s sent over to Just Trade HQ for the UK team to complete the final assembly of the jewellery.
The full range is available in store & at www.lauraashley.com