Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Jewelry by Pippa Small: Impactful and Joyous (in More Ways than Just Aesthetically)

I’m loving London-based jeweler Pippa Small‘s oversized, colorful jewelry. After working under Tom Ford at Gucci and Phoebe Philo at Chloe, she has a fantastic design eye for what’s going to work with a dressed down frock, smart denims and a white tee, or even with a more polished jacket-and-skirt ensemble.

Smalls’ new online shop means that her designs are now easily available to anyone with an Internet connection, though her jewelry is available at all sorts of boutiques and is featured on net-a-porter too.

And the designer doesn’t just have an eye for style, she works with what is the world’s 1st registered Fairtrade gold mine in Bolivia, and partnered with Afghanistan-based charity Turtle Mountain, which is working to regenerate the country’s traditional arts. She also produced a collection with the Fairtrade company MADE based in Kibera, a slum area in Nairobi.

Read more about these various projects here.

“Pippa believes the art of jewellery making can enhance life and help alleviate poverty and protect precious traditions, helping to grow the confidence of crafts people around the world and reverse the tradition of exploitation associated with the gem industry over the centuries. Her jewellery is collected and coveted by many who appreciate the rough organic, hand made feel of the jewellery.”

Fall Accessories 2009: Muichic Eco Jewelry from Colombia

Chunky statement necklaces, bracelets and rings are an easy way to upgrade your wardrobe without buying tons of new clothes, so when I saw these handmade pieces (at very reasonable prices to boot), I thought they would be perfect for Autumn.

Handmade in Colombia, Muichic jewelry is all made from tagua nuts, which is a botanical alternative to ivory and is actually the seed of the ivory-nut palm or tagua palm. Sometimes called vegetable ivory, tagua nuts are a renewable resource that grow in the tropical forests of South America; harvesting them is a sustainable alternative to chopping down rainforest for cattle grazing or other destructive farming practices and encourages local conservation practices.