Livia Firth's aquamarine cocktail ring; photo: Jason Olive

What drew me most to Livia Firth‘s outfit for this year’s Academy Awards wasn’t her gorgeous upcycled gown by Gary Harvey but her rocking fair trade jewelry. Her awe-inspiring cocktail ring (pictured above) was made from fair trade, fairmined, and ecologically certified Oro Verde gold sourced by Cred Jewellery and a radiant 35-carat fair trade aquamarine traceable from the Lundazi community owned mine in Zambia. In addition to the same fair trade gold and aquamarine mentioned above, Firth’s earrings also featured diamonds from the Liqhobong women’s-owned cooperative mine in Lesotho.

In a world where so many diamonds and other gems are products of conflict, slavery, greed, and destruction, I am enormously glad that Livia Firth, a huge proponent of sustainable fashion, brought attention to the fact that socially and environmentally sustainable alternatives exist. CRED Jewellery is one such alternative.

Since its creation by Greg Valerio in 1996, social justice and nature’s beauty have been the driving force behind CRED Jewellery and the designers that they partner with. Often these designers fuse their own passion for local communities and sustainability, forging a product that not only utilizes best practices for sustainable metal and gem extraction but helps a community foster and profit from their natural resources that would normally be exploited.

Penelope Collection by Annabel Panes "Fleur Brilliant" amethyst ring, £545.83

Part of CRED Jewellery’s “Penelope Collection,” Annabel Panes‘ 18-carat white gold cocktail ring is made from Oro Verde Fair Trade, Fairmined certified gold. Oro Verde gold is mined by artisanal mining families in the Chocó bioregion of Colombia. Buying Oro Verde gold, “el oro más amado del mundo,” not only strengthens the economic independence of communities in Chocó but ensures that they retain control of their ecosystem’s precious metal resources, which they extract sustainably and safely, without the use of harmful chemicals. The stones that Panes’ uses for her rings and necklaces, including aquamarine, Iolite, Rhodalite, sapphire and amethyst, are ethically sourced in Africa, India, and South America.

Oria Ethical Jewellery "Lotus Leaf" earrings, £95.83

CRED also carries pieces by Oria Ethical Jewellery, which was formed in 2007 by Tania Kowalski and Synnove Saelthun. Their “Lotus Leaf” earrings, like their other silver pieces, are made from sterling silver sourced from artisanal miners in Bolivia. Likewise, their ”Bibi Aqua-Bead Cluster” earrings are made from 18-carat yellow gold from alluvial cooperatives in Argentina and Mexico. These cooperatives and artisanal mines are especially significant as they producing metals without cyanide or mercury.

Oria Ethical Jewellery "Bibi Aqua-Bead Cluster" earrings, £240.00