Adding Reclaimed Materials to Your Custom Made Jewelry Projects

Custom projects made with reclaimed resources not only will be environmentally friendly but also can benefit from the rich backstories and unique visual characteristics of repurposed materials.  If you’re considering investing in custom made jewelry, here are four approaches to integrating recycled materials into your design.  Keep these “Four Rs” in mind when you review your custom jewelry ideas with a CustomMade artisan.

Revisit

Is there something treasured from your past that you’ve recently seen anew, perhaps a favorite childhood toy?  If you haven’t entered your second childhood yet, this Mondrian limited edition LEGO bracelet by emiko-o reware might give you a gentle push in that direction.  From classic bricks to complex play sets, LEGO sets are some of the most iconic and beloved toys of the modern era because of the way they foster the creative urge to build your own little world.  This bracelet, made from repurposed LEGO pieces, sterling silver, and rubber cord is “a nod to the art of Mondrian” and an “ode to Jr. High,” too.  Artisan emiko oye “strives to subtly transform the identity of everyday mundane objects” with custom jewelry pieces made from recycled materials, LEGO, and precious metals.  In the process, she creates unique “ready-to-wear statements” while “reinventing jewelry for the body.”   Take a look at emiko-o reware’s CustomMade portfolio for more LEGO inspired jewelry projects.

Mondrian Limited Edition LEGO Bracelet by emiko-o reware at CustomMade.com

Rescue

Like pop culture and pop food, tin cans are manufactured to be discarded.  However, artisan Harriete Estel Berman has found a way to preserve your favorite TV shows, cartoon characters, games, and food brands by taking post consumer tin cans and creating unique, handmade flower brooches. “People walk across the room just to look at my flower pins a little closer. It happens every time.  Wear a flower pin to change every day into the incredible.”  You can commission your own custom jewelry design to feature the product, brand, and colors of your choice or place your trust in the “artist’s eye.”  Just take a look at the variety of subjects captured as flowers that will never wilt in the picture below or visit the artisan’s website gallery to view the complete collection.

Flower Brooches by Harriete Estel Berman at CustomMade.com

Reassemble

Perhaps the elements for a new custom made jewelry piece already exist in a jewelry box somewhere, perhaps your own or one from an estate sale, and are just waiting to be upcycled.  Vicki Boryca of VickiBo Jewelry, Etc., writes: “There is nothing as inspiring as taking an estate piece that has had a previous live and history and breathing new life into it to bring its style up to date. Designing such pieces also gives me life and motivates me with each creation.”  This three reassembled necklaces, earrings, and bracelet set “probably began as a pin or barrette from the 70′s” but can now be worn together, attached, or separately as the mood strikes you.  Contact the artisan for a custom jewelry design built around a favorite vintage piece of your own.

Three Reassembled Necklaces, Earring, Bracelet Set by VickiBo Jewelry, Etc., at CustomMade.com

Rebirth

At the moment, your one-of-a-kind custom jewelry may only exist as an inspiration, but the recycled metals that can give it shape are available now.  This stunning “Song of the Sea Nymph” necklace by Rain Kazymerchyk, Art in Metal, contains scrap sterling silver that was “poured molten into the bristles of an old corn broom.”  The uniquely reborn silver was combined with a faceted, oval lolite, a freeform freshwater pearl, and a Viking-weave chain.  This particular piece has been sold, but don’t fret.  The artisan can create another unique work of art  just for you.

"Song of the Sea Nymph" by Rain Kazymerchyk, Art in Metal, at CustomMade.com

Whether you envision custom jewelry that will reconceptualize found elements or arise new like a phoenix from the fires of recycled molten metal, contact a CustomMade jewelry artisan near you or post a commission request through CustomMade’s “Get It Made” service.