What is upcycling?
In French, the term upcycling means "increasing the life cycle". This technique allows you to create new products while limiting the negative impacts linked to the manufacturing and production of jewelry.
The difference between recycling and upcycling
Initially, this concept was practiced in developing countries with limited access to consumer goods. It then spread to developed countries. Today, this concept has become a strong trend in all sectors of the economy.
The choice of upcycling
In a world where everything seems to have a heavy carbon footprint, it's reassuring to know that there are still ways to reduce our impact on the environment, and upcycling is one of them.
Since upcycled jewelry is usually handmade, it requires less energy to produce than mass-produced jewelry. It also means fewer harmful chemicals. All in all, buying recycled jewelry is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint without compromising your style!
For example, extracting one ton of gold requires an average of 150 tons of cyanide. For comparison, a few milliliters of this substance are already fatal to humans. (source: Sauvons la Forêt)
What is an upcycled jewel?
Upcycled jewelry is jewelry that is made from reused materials. These materials can include clothing pieces, metal pieces, glass pieces, wood pieces, plastic pieces, fabric pieces.
Upcycling jewelry at Anicet
At Anicet, we have decided to revalue antique and more contemporary second-hand jewelry in durable and precious materials such as solid silver, gold, gold plate and fine stones.
Forgotten and abandoned jewelry is in turn cleaned, dismantled, deconstructed and sometimes recast to reform a new, unique, upcycled, unisex and contemporary piece of jewelry.