Environmental & Social Responsibility 2024
Our mission is to create timeless long-lasting jewellery in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
People
Creating a safe and happy workplace for our staff, and nurturing a wider community of customers and suppliers that share our values.
Product
Striving to make ethically and sustainably handmade jewellery that minimises greenhouse gas emissions, polluting chemicals and plastic use.
Planet
Using our voice, influence and profits to make long-term positive contributions to nature and the environment.
Making our jewellery in England ensures our team is fairly paid, valued and safe, and have holidays, maternity pay and other legal protections. Our jewellery is not shipped from across the world, and can be made in small batches or individually to order.
People
Handmade in England
Our jewellery is handmade by our Goldsmiths Rachel and Jenn, in our studio in South East London.
By making it ourselves, we guarantee quality over quantity, so our jewellery is never over-produced.
We value local production, and for any technical things we can't do in our workshop, we only work with UK-based artisans that we know and trust.
Women owned & led
Founded by Emma Barnes in 2015, Wild Fawn is proud to be a female-founded and led business.
We put female voices and experiences at the heart of everything we do. Our story is also yours: A story of powerful women, caring and conscious of the world around us.
Culture & wellbeing
We have created a friendly, safe and respectful studio environment.
We are a registered London Living Wage employer and offer training opportunities to our team to develop their skills.
Our goldsmiths receive enhanced annual leave and maternity leave benefits, flexible hours, team socials, drinks and picnics.
Customers & community
Our guiding commitments are to the planet and its people.
It's our goal to foster a community of like-minded people who believe in mindfully-made jewellery available to everyone.
We strive to treat our customers as we would want to be treated ourselves: With care and compassion and by going the extra mile to help when needed.
LGBTQ+ allies
Pride
We take pride in being a LGBT-led business, so no matter how you identify, we will support and respect you. We want you to feel completely comfortable talking to us about your wedding or engagement jewellery, whatever your sexual orientation or gender identity.
Greenhouse gas emissions from the gold mining industry exceed 100 million tonnes of CO2-eq annually
Product
Local production
Transport is the UK's biggest source of carbon emissions. Making our jewellery here in our workshop shortens the supply chain, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and allowing us to make jewellery in smaller batches or individually, reducing waste.
Solid metals, no plating
All our jewellery is made with solid, recycled precious metals.
Cheap materials shorten the lifespan of products, making them difficult to repair and ultimately ending up in landfill.
We don't believe that low quality gold-plated jewellery is a sustainable product. The plating process may use polluting chemicals, and overtime the plating can wear off resulting in jewellery that ends up in landfill.
Ethically-sourced diamonds and gemstones
Mining for gemstones is labour and energy intensive, and we're aware there are risks of unethical and unsustainable practices in the industry. This is why we only use lab-grown diamonds.
Our sapphires and other gemstones are sourced by suppliers that only work with a select few small and artisanal mines to provide fully traceable and responsibly-sourced gemstones.
Our sapphires are usually from the USA, Australia or Sri Lanka.
Recycled metals
The mining of precious metals is a hugely energy intensive and polluting industry.
We're proud to only use recycled silver, gold and platinum to make your jewellery. We also love to work with your heirloom gold and help upcycle your old jewellery.
Any precious metals we don't use are melted down to be reused.
Ethical choice
Lab-grown diamonds
Diamond mining has a significant impact on the environment. The machinery required to move the huge amount of earth it takes to find the diamonds uses vast quantities of fossil fuels, plus shifting that much of the natural environment has a damaging effect on the ecosystems surrounding it. Soil and water supplies can become contaminated, causing harm to local people, livestock and wildlife. The impact of this holds even more significance when you consider that many diamond mining facilities are located in African nations where the water supply is already limited.
One of the benefits of lab grown diamonds is that whilst the laboratories used to make them still require energy to run, it's a lot less than is used for traditional mining, and many laboratories even use renewable energy.
Traditional diamond mining relies on heavy machinery, explosives, and hydraulic equipment, and the production of 1 carat of diamond can produce 57kg of greenhouse gas emissions, 2.63 tonnes of mineral waste, and consume 0.48m3 of water.
When utilizing clean energy sources, lab-grown diamonds result in 0.028 grams of greenhouse gas emissions, 0.0006 tonnes of mineral waste, and 0.07 m³ of water usage per carat. (Nature, 2024)
Planet
Plastic-free packaging
Our boxes are made using 100% post consumer recycled paper collected from schools, offices and hotels. It is coloured using natural dyes taken from the earth, roots and leaves, and is textured with the addition of sustainable plant fibres such as bamboo and flower petals.
The foam inserts are 100% free from crude oil and have been created using a by-product of paper production processes.
Our postal envelopes and printing paper are FSC certified and our tape is paper and natural gum and can be recycled with the postage envelope.
Nature
You might have noticed that we don't take part in any carbon offsetting schemes.
We believe these schemes don't address the need for carbon reductions at the source and are often used as a form of greenwashing by polluting companies.
In 2025 we are planning to start working towards our very own nature protection and recovery project here in the UK. Watch this space!
Made to last a lifetime
Our jewellery uses high-quality solid silver and gold, and each piece is made individually with love and care in our London workshop. This is jewellery to cherish for a lifetime if properly cared for, and can be polished and repaired as needed.
Energy
Our workshop is part of Workspace, London's leading provider of sustainable workspace. In its commitment to be carbon net zero by 2030, Workspace has directly partnered with a new solar farm in Devon, and buys its entire electricity output to power about two-thirds of their buildings.