Coral Covey

The Coral Covey studio was first established in Munich, Germany and re-located to St. Andrews, Australia in November 2017. The name is the unity of Laura’s two grandmothers, Coral McKissick and Gladys Covey, who were important influences in her life and taught her a great deal about caring for her community and the environment. She sees the sustainable production of her jewellery as key in making an environmental difference to her field. From the silver she uses to the packaging materials, Laura has ensured that everyone involved in a Coral Covey jewellery piece is dedicated to the creation of fair, honest and beautiful jewellery. Her uniquely designed gift packaging uses recycled materials, while the studio is powered using 100% solar energy. For more detailed information on this read the Ethics & Environment page.

Laura is the sole designer of the Coral Covey collection. Each piece is both original and unique, with Laura working through her design process from conceptualisation and sketching design ideas, to making and refining the finished item. She began by creating jewellery as gifts for friends or loved ones and taking custom order requests, and over time her unique approach has built an ever growing collection which represents both classic and modern designs. For more specific information read the text about each jewellery piece to get an insight into why, how and for whom each jewellery piece was created or arrange a personal consultation with Laura (laura@coralcovey.com) to discuss your own custom made piece of jewellery.

Laura is always creating new and interesting pieces for her expanding clientele, so be sure to check back over the website regularly, check out her Instagram feed and join the Coral Covey Mailing List to get the latest info on what’s been happening in the studio.

Identity

The Coral Covey Stamp

Each Coral Covey piece bears two stamped marks: one is a symbol, and the other is a set of numbers.

The symbol is Laura’s official Coral Covey maker’s mark. A maker’s mark is a stamp that is often placed on the underside of a piece of jewellery. Usually an emblem or letter, it indicates who the maker of the jewellery was. This is extremely helpful when having the piece valued by a professional. The Coral Covey maker’s mark combines the oval shape and a fern leaf. The oval is a traditional form common in jewellery, particularly worn by women throughout the ages as a pendant or locket from a loved one. The fern leaf is an ancient plant species that has been on Earth for more than 300 million years. With a deep respect for traditional jewellery and a strong commitment to our environmental responsibility, Laura feels these two forms combine perfectly to represent everything Coral Covey Jewellery epitomizes.

In addition, every piece also carries a separate ‘925’ stamp – this is the international standard for sterling silver. It is also Laura’s guarantee that the piece you are buying is made from 100% sterling silver. Sterling silver is the amalgamation of two metals: 92.5% fine silver and 7.5% copper – this combination results in a durable and lustrous metal. To read further information on where she source her recycled/reclaimed sterling silver see the Ethics & Environment page.

Here are some of the ways she is making sure Coral Covey Jewellery is ethical and environmentally friendly.

Silver

To cast the body of each piece (e.g. the starfish) Laura use 100% reclaimed/recycled sterling silver. Laura employs the help of her local casting firm, Lenrose & Ace David Jewellery in Melbourne to ensure a professional quality. The list of reasons it’s important to use existing metals, and not newly mined ones, are long. The processes involved in retrieving these metals from the ground are dangerous, toxic and often carried out in developing nations where healthcare and fair pay are not enforced, and child labour is common.

The amazing thing about precious metal like silver or gold is that they can be constantly recycled and refined, over and over forever. Laura purchases the 100% reclaimed/recycled sterling silver from Heraeus Materials Technology GmbH & Co. This company is committed to making a difference environmentally by salvaging their silver from industry and existing jewellery, refining it, and making it available for re-use. How amazing is that? For further information on Heraeus and how they source their materials please check out their website and see their certificate and code of conduct.

Studio

From the conception of Coral Covey, Laura has been committed to power her studio with 100% renewable energy. You will find her studio amongst the rolling hills of St Andrews, with two full banks of solar panels on the roof, both of which supply more than enough energy to power her Studio.

For the storage and power conversion, she employs the help of the Kiwi power provider, Powershop. This company is Australia’s greenest power company (Greenpeace – Green Electricity Guide, 2014, 2015 & 2018) and Australia’s first and only 100% carbon neutral power company, as certified against the requirements of the National Carbon Offset Standard by the Australian Government. For further information on Powershop’s ethos and commitment to renewables, visit their website: Powershop

In the beginning the Coral Covey studio was powered by Munich based company: Polarstern. This business provided completely renewable alternatives for energy users. The 100% renewable electricity provided by Polarstern comes from a hydro-electricity station situated less than 10km east of Munich, in Feldkirchen. Here Polarstern has not only integrated the hydro-electric system, but they have developed wetlands that allow fish and other animals to pass easily up and down the river, making this a real haven for wildlife.

The 100% renewable gas provided by Polarstern is produced exclusively from the waste made when processing organic sugar beets. By avoiding the use of manure or energy crops such as mono-culture maize, Polarstern are proud to call their gas truly sustainable and carbon neutral. Polarstern is certified annually by the regulating bodies TÜV NORD, Grüner Strom (Green Energy) & Öko Test.

“Polarstern is a labour of love with the mission to improve the world.”
– Jakob Assmann, Florian Henle & Simon Stadler, Founders of Polarstern, Munich.

For more information on how this company is not only improving their own community but helping communities abroad, visit their website: Polarstern

Packaging

The Coral Covey packaging is made using recycled paper boxes, 100% cotton ribbon and naturally dyed felt. For details see our packaging section.

Some of the reason I believe strongly about this…

Gold and silver mining is one of the most environmentally and culturally devastating industries worldwide. It has been known to displace communities, contaminate drinking water, poison workers and destroy pure ecosystems.

• To mine the gold for one wedding ring alone can generate up to 20 tons of waste.
• Mine waste can contain as many as three dozen dangerous chemical by-products including cyanide, arsenic, petroleum, lead & mercury. All these chemicals requiring special handling, storage and protection. However many people living and working in developing nations, even children, are mining for gold and silver without any protection.
• The mining industry has some extremely destructive extraction techniques, including ‘heap leaching’. This method drips a cyanide solution through a mountain of ore. The solution strips away the gold and other heavy metals which are collected in a pond. The water is then run through an electro-chemical process to extract gold.
• While some mining by-products are immediately toxic to life on contact, others such as heavy metals, are more insidious in nature and remain in soils for generations. If these soils dry and create dust or the contaminated land is used for agriculture the heavy metals contaminate people through direct inhalation or ingestion of food grown in heavy metal soils. These metals, such as lead and mercury, accumulate in our bodies (and those of the animals we eat) over time leading to severe health problems.
• It is estimated that half of all the gold mined from 1995 to 2015 is likely to have come from native lands, the traditional territories of indigenous people. When mines receive native title approval the anticipated environmental impact is often underestimated or under represented.

References and further reading:

Gold Mining Children – SBS Dateline

No Dirty Gold

Fair Trade

Fair Jewellery

Gold in Action – youtube

• The jewellery box is made using recycled paper by the innovative emerging company Tiny Box Co.
• The red and cream ribbon is traditionally used for book binding. It is made from pure cotton supplied from incredible book making experts Carta Pura.
• The felt bed inside is made using naturally dyed merino sheep wool from the very established company Daimer Filze Natural felt is the ideal material to store silver and reduces the tarnishing process.
• The advertising, postage and packaging materials are all recycled paper.