Welcome to the world of Clean Carats, a jewellery brand brought to life by the passion and dedication of Sam and Alex. In their intimate studio, nestled amidst creativity and craftsmanship, every piece is meticulously handcrafted, infused with love and meaning.
With a genuine passion for creating honest and distinctive jewellery meant to last a lifetime, Sam and Alex invite you to delve into their world of craftsmanship and artistry. This interview unravels the story behind Clean Carats and the vision that drives these talented artisans…
“Slow making” is a unique concept. Could you elaborate on how it influences your design and production process, and why it’s essential to your brand?
From the moment we first began establishing Clean Carats, focussing on sustainability and ethical practices has always been important to us. Clean Carats was born as a passion project – it was never about having a factory line producing as many products as possible – it’s always been just Sam & I working side by side in our little studio, doing what we love.
To us, slow making is all about taking our time with each piece to source materials from ethical channels, consideration for our clients’ personal stories and dreams during the design phase, and never rushing the making process – taking our time to craft every piece with intention and love.
The pieces we create aren’t items you purchase every day – they represent special life events, carry emotional weight, tell stories and are deeply personal to the wearer. With the gravity of this in mind, we take time to make sure our designs are absolutely perfect and thoughtful in every way… in our materials, our craftsmanship, and our ethos.
Could you share some insights into the materials you use to craft your jewels and how they contribute to the overall aesthetic and quality of your creations?
Absolutely – the materials we use play a huge part in the quality and aesthetic of our work!
The gold we use to craft our jewels with is a mix of recycled and alluvial gold, which is local gold that flows through the rivers of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. These alluvial operations are not destructive to the environment and comply with strict protocols put in place by DOC (Department of Conservation).
As for our gemstones, Sam & I spend hours sifting through thousands of stones to handpick the most unique ones for our pieces. From ethereal opalescent sapphires to cosmic salt and pepper diamonds, thanks to exceptional gems like these there is a real essence of magic and grounding to the universe in each of our jewels.
Tell us about the significance of sourcing ethical stones and how it impacts the overall quality of your jewellery.
Ethical sourcing has always been a non-negotiable for us since day one.
The diamonds and gemstones we use in our pieces are sourced directly from mainly family owned mines and artisanal gem cutters, whose ideologies align with ours. Supporting the communities the stones were mined from, fair labour practices and sustainable environmental operations are extremely important to Sam & I.
Through these tight-knit relationships, we are able to handpick unique stones that other makers don’t have access to – which is why a lot of our rings feature stones unlike anything most people have ever seen before.
Your brand is dedicated to crafting honest and unique jewellery. How do you stay innovative and maintain your distinct style in a competitive market?
To be honest, we don’t worry too much about what everyone else is doing – we don’t scour the market or create based on trends, we focus on making only what we wholeheartedly enjoy making, which is reflected in our craftsmanship.
Creating pieces we’re genuinely passionate about making has always been imperative to us both. Inspired by our own artistic taste, creativity and experiences; I think being authentic and true to our passion gives our pieces their distinct style.
It’s been incredible to see people connect with our pieces and our ethos so strongly.
I’d encourage anyone reading this to buy your jewels from a jeweller that you resonate with and supports you to be authentically who you are.
The personal stories of your customers seem to play a significant role in your brand. Can you share an example of how a customer’s story has touched you or influenced your work?
We enjoy every aspect of daily life as Clean Carats, but one of the best parts has got to be connecting with our customers and clients. It makes my day when previous customers reach out to share photos of their proposals or weddings. There have been so many moments we’ve been touched.
I love getting to know our clients whilst working together on bespoke (custom) rings, whether it’s for themselves or their partner, hearing the stories of how they met or how they plan to propose, it’s always so heartwarming. It’s impossible to not feel excited along with them!
Sam & I are endlessly grateful to be able to play a small part of each of our customers’ love stories and it is a truly special part of what we get to do.
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