OUR SUSTAINABLE JOURNEY & ETHOS
Environmental and ethical consciousness are intertwined as part of our core narrative. We never stray from our founding value: to prioritise our community and our planet.
Our promise is to craft Memento Jewellery that will last a lifetime and beyond with ethically sourced noble metals and exemplary craftsmanship. From the fragments of mythological tales, Pan Sermsuk begins each piece as a paper sculpture or a wax model, instilled with ancient myths and memories. These delicate masters are passed on to the care of our family-run jewellers, who replicate and cast the pieces in responsibly sourced sterling silver.
Every step of our creation is driven by the people and their narratives. Their stories are interwoven across time and regions into the piece, from the ancient storytellers to Pan to our family of jewellers and you.
The Making of Our Memento Jewellery
Our Memento Jewellery is intricately crafted by skilled artisans from family-owned and-run ateliers. Through an ancient method of lost-wax casting, each piece is transformed into ethical sterling silver. Our master jewellers work their maker’s magic and hand finish every individual piece. Our Memento Jewellery is carefully polished and gold-plated with age-old handcrafted techniques before making its journey back to our studio in London.
At Zephyne, we champion the heritage and craftsmanship largely eclipsed by the mass manufacturing landscape. We work exclusively with small and independent family-run jewellers, chosen for their exemplary craftsmanship, design prowess and individual story. Each artisan is a master in their own intricate craft – from wax modelling to casting to plating – with the expertise and silversmith nous that has been passed down from generation to generation. We are highly invested in protecting and supporting this ancient artistry to ensure the longevity of traditional jewellery craftsmanship.
Mindfully Made to Last a Lifetime and Beyond
Slow design is at the heart of our practice. We desire to promote mindful and conscious consumption with memento pieces that will stand the test of time. With an unwavering focus on material longevity and lifetime wear, our Memento Jewellery is intricately crafted from precious metals, made to last and be inherited. Each piece is forged in sterling silver, a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper, which is regarded as one of the highest qualities of a silver mix. Due to the metal’s softness, silver in its rawest form is mixed with harder metals, or ‘alloyed’ together, to give it strength while preserving its beauty and the integrity of a precious metal. Our sterling silver is ethically sourced and sustainably crafted by our trusted families of jewellers. Excess metal waste is refined through a process of scrap refining technique to purify the metal before it goes back into the cycle of casting new memento pieces.
As part of our commitment to ethical and environmentally conscious sourcing, we are highly invested in partnering with responsible suppliers who align with our beliefs and our ethical and sustainable efforts. Our silver chains and findings suppliers are Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) accredited and independently audited against the RJC Code of Practices to ensure the jewellery articles are responsibly made and the strict ethical guidelines are adhered to.
Our Memento Jewellery exists beyond the world of fast fashion. Each piece is a part of the evolving design families, intended to be slowly collected and worn together regardless of collection. To avoid excess production, each design is made in small exclusive quantities, with small capsule injections based on the feedback from our community. Each piece can be paired and layered in an endless ensemble, celebrating timeless design that transcends seasons and trends.
The Meaning of Gold Vermeil
Pronounced ‘ver-may’, vermeil is a centuries-old term coined to describe a type of gold plating over a solid sterling silver base. It is a technique with superior quality and durability over standard gold plating. To be classed as gold vermeil, the sterling silver base must be gold plated using the electrochemical technique with a gold purity of 10 karats or above and a plating thickness of at least 2.5 microns.
Gold karat (k) is a measurement of gold purity; each karat indicates 1/24th of the whole. 24k gold refers to the purest form of gold, with 99.9% of gold content. Zephyne’s gold vermeil layers 24k gold at 2. 5 microns onto a sterling silver base, rendering the piece with a deep, rich golden hue. Our Memento Jewellery is designed to be worn on your daily adventure. With a little affection and care, your vermeil piece can stand the test of time and retain its lasting, alluring shine. Visit our Jewellery Care page for further details on the Memento Jewellery care ritual.
Hallmarking
Hallmarking is one of the earliest forms of authentication, which guarantees that the precious metal is of the fineness stated. At Zephyne, we pride ourselves on creating forever pieces with precious metals. Our craft is underpinned by quality and integrity. Our Memento Jewellery is sent to the London Assay Office, where each piece is independently assayed to determine the material purity. All our gold vermeil and sterling silver pieces beyond the minimum legal threshold of 7.78g are hallmarked at the Goldsmiths’ Hall to ensure their quality and story can be traced and treasured for generations and beyond.
A detailed explanation of the Hallmark can be found on the Dealer’s Notice produced by the British Hallmarking Council (BHC).
Hand-packed with Love in Responsible Packaging
Our packaging is designed to provide a haven for your Memento Jewellery. We take pride in packaging sustainability. We are proud to work with UK-based packaging manufacturers and printing companies who share our beliefs and seek to offer sustainable solutions.
Made of packaging with a past, our outer mailer box is fabricated from natural cardboard with a minimum of 70% recycled content. The remaining material is derived from sustainably and ethically sourced wood that is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. Our mailer box is fully recyclable and biodegradable. Our jewellery box is made from a minimum of 40% recycled post-consumer waste and is accompanied by a removable foam insert. Our jewellery packaging is fully reusable, and we advise storing your memento pieces in their original box to keep them protected for years to come.
We have always worked to minimise our impact and ensure environmental consideration remains at the heart of our brand. Our packaging manufacturers are championing the use of recycled post-consumer waste materials, and we are working closely together to continually improve our packaging solutions. We are working to introduce a sustainable jewellery box insert fabricated from a natural by-product in wood production to ensure that every element of our packaging is made from recycled content and is fully recyclable.
Towards Circularity
We are on an evolving journey towards circularity. As a budding demi-fine jewellery brand, we are setting up frameworks to effectively play our part in this crucial global effort.
We support the longevity of our Memento Jewellery by offering a replating service to refresh the golden lustre and ensure that each piece can be treasured and cherished for a lifetime and every day thereafter.
We are working to transition all our collections over to using recycled sterling silver and crafting with precious metals that are already in circulation to reduce the environmental impact.
We are working to offer a warranty with every memento piece and a repair and restore service beyond the warranty to extend the life of your Memento Jewellery while retaining their treasured memories.
We are working to establish a recycling scheme for all unwanted jewellery pieces that have reached the end of their journey with you and can be recycled and given a new life.
We believe that meaningful memento pieces can be forged without the expense of the people or the planet. Whilst our proactive approach to sustainability is integral to our narrative and the creation of our jewellery, we are continually educating ourselves on the topic of circularity and on the mission to seek out an ever more ethical and sustainable approach through the way we design, create and operate. We are writing our own rule book – one that embraces sustainable growth and genuine relationships. We look forward to sharing this journey with you over the years to come.
