Is Vegan jewellery a thing?

Off the top of my head, I can only think of one material that’s widely used in fine jewellery that definitely wouldn’t be considered vegan, Pearls.  All natural pearls, whether freshwater, cultured or otherwise are the product of animals, Molluscs, but I can’t think of any others yet ‘vegan jewellery’ is one of the most popular search terms out there for ‘ethical jewellery’.

I’m thinking specifically about fine jewellery, in fashion, costume jewellery, watches etc, materials like leather, crocodile & other skins and resin obviously also wouldn’t be considered vegan.

The production of precious metals, diamonds and coloured gemstones is a process pretty much devoid of animal products and very little animal labour.  Whilst I’m sure many a small scale miner would love to send a goat/donkey/dog/ down a mine in their place, we as humans are the only creature with the required skillset and motivation for this task.  Its either humans or machines doing this kind of work.

So if the jewellery is described as ‘vegan’ does it actually mean anything or is it an attempt to attract a type of customer who is attracted to this type of message? Just adding another buzzword to describe a product that could be causing environmental damage and taking a human toll, if not animal.

At this stage, the only thing I can think that this guarantee is that this jewellery contains no natural pearls.

I’m going to do some further research into the companies who claim ‘vegan jewellery’. There may well be some really good reasons for making this distinction but my hunch is there isn’t. (I will be sure to tell you if I’m wrong)

If you have any insight or opinion on this subject then please get in touch, ethicaljewelleryblog@gmail.com