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Responsibility
OUR APPROACH
As a sister-lead, B-corp certified business, we want to stand proud about what we do and with that comes an integral sense of responsibility.
The term sustainability is somewhat at odds with our industry - an industry that thrives of newness and utilises natural resources. There is no denying that. That's why we don't shy away from our impact and instead work to be the most responsible brand we can be. Our focus has always been growing slowly and consciously, as we learn from the mistakes we've made along the way and strive to do better year after year.
An overview of our approach can be discovered on this page below, with a more in-depth review on our annual responsibility reports also linked below.
Please do get in touch with any questions or advice - we'd love to hear your thoughts.
You can also discover more on our B-corp status on this dedicated journal post.
"Trying to act truly sustainably is incredibly challenging in an industry that is so driven by seasonal consumption and newness. For us, sustainable fashion means embracing a slower, non-seasonal approach and creating meaningful pieces that can last."
Rosanna Wollenberg, Co-Founder
OUR TEAM
We are a female owned and managed team, driving the brand forward without investment. We (Rosanna and Christie) maintain full ownership of our business with the vision to continue growing at a steady and responsible pace, to ensure we build a brand with longevity, authenticity and strong foundations.
Our team works from our London Bridge HQ, which operates in a building supplied by 100% renewably sourced energy. Each team member has commitments in their job specification that support our responsibility programme, overseeing elements that include, for example, our internal and external recycling policy, workshop management and communications.
OUR ETHOS
Building on our individual backgrounds in luxury, we founded Otiumberg with an appreciation of and focus on specialised craftsmanship, beautiful materiality and timeless design.
We work in both fine and demi-fine materials, creating minimal designs in a subtle, muted palette. We craft our collections in small quantities to avoid overproduction and relentless end of season sales, which is why you’ll often see Made-To-Order or Pre-Order on our website - very rarely a sale.
Our pieces are crafted to feel special and remain loved, from the personalised collection to our dainty solid gold pieces that become your second skin. That’s really what Otiumberg is all about.
OUR MATERIALS
Recycled precious metals: our workshops source our precious recycled raw metals from refineries that are certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council Chain of Custody. This certification assures us that the refinement process and supply chain is closely monitored to meet strict social, ethical and environmental standards. Recycled metals keep our footprint light and promote a more circular economy.
We do recognise, and often discuss, the limitations of recycled metals in their lack of contribution to mining communities and lack of direct traceability. It's a conversation we continue to explore and educate ourselves on.
Single Mine Origin Gold: Always open to new innovations, we recently launched a capsule collection in 100% traceable Single Mine Origin Gold. We recognise the benefit for customers to know exactly the mine where their gold was sourced and the impact it has on both the environment and mining community. Read more on this in our dedicated journal post and discover the capsule collection here.
We continue to explore ways to be more responsible with our metals and never say we are perfect. We hope to offer our customers a choice and insight into what we believe are the best options and to what is available to us as a small business.
Recycling & Repairs Scheme: The beauty of working in metal is that it can often be restored, recycle or repaired. If pieces are being worn everyday, just like anything, they will require some loving care to stay their best. That's why we offer our customers a repair, replating and restore service, to ensure our their jewellery can be loved for a long time, rather than ending up in landfill - read more on our dedicated page.
Gemstones: traceability and responsible sourcing are major challenges in the natural diamond and gemstone world. We cannot deny that these materials are part of the real world, with millions of people involved in sourcing, cutting and selling these precious stones.
Despite the progress we have made in other areas of our supply chain, we recognise that the industry, and Otiumberg, has a way to go. Whilst we annually map out the origin of our stones to avoid any conflict regions or known ethical issues, we recognise that purchasing can happen at least one step from the mines and that it can be hard to ascertain concrete provenance information. The associated supply chains are more complicated than they are for metals, as there are fewer established certification systems in place.
Looking ahead, we hope to create a more intentional sourcing process that begins with our own internal education to ensure we have the information and insight to make the right decisions in this complicated industry. We hope that by asking questions and bringing the conversation up with workshops, we will support and drive change as we grow.
OUR PACKAGING
Our packaging is beautiful whilst also being kind to the environment.
Our paper bags and boxes are crafted from FSC sustainably sourced paper and can easily be recycled alongside household paper recycling systems.
Our pouches are crafted from raime; a natural fibre woven from the fibre of the raime plant which is fully biodegradable. Our pouches are designed to be used for storage of our jewellery, whether that’s on the run in your handbag or at home. After that, raime, as a plant-derived fibre, biodegrades.
We have recently eradicated the need for plastic poly mailing bags and instead use crafted FSC e-commerce boxes that are both hardy and recyclable. We have also worked with our Tier 1 suppliers to ensure that they transition from polybags to biodegradable options.
“One of the biggest challenges in the jewellery industry is eradicating
plastic. What a lot of consumers do not see is the copious amounts of
polybags used for shipping across international supply chains. This was
such a tangible issue for us that we simply could not ignore it.”
Rosanna Wollenberg, Co-Founder
"Our mission is to create beautiful and responsible designs which serve to uplift and empower the community that surrounds us."
OUR COMMUNITY
Community refers to everyone our brand encounters, from our workshops to our head office team in London and our global customers. With B-Corp we now have a framework that ensures we manage our community responsibly and grow in a way which is good, open and honest.
The Otiumberg Giving Fund was set up to donate to causes we believe align with our values here at Otiumberg and support our mission. Our first charity partners in the fund are Choose Love who we have supported since 2021. Our donations go towards AMNA, one of the organisations in the Choose Love network that supports the psychological care of traumatised displaced communities with a focus on women and children. The partnership, like most things at Otiumberg, began organically through a conversation with a customer. Read more on our partnership in the dedicated journal page.
OUR ETHICAL PRODUCTION
We craft our pieces in Thailand and India, working with the workshops which we have maintained positive and collaborative relationships with since the very beginning of our brand.
We strive to establish honest, open and transparent relationships with our workshops, which are supported by formal audits and agreements that hold us all accountable for high levels of responsible and ethical practice. This mix of personal and professional due diligence ensures the safe, healthy, and fair working conditions, as well as gender equality and fair wages of the staff at each of our workshops.
We ensure time is taken to speak daily with the teams, and we strive to visit them annually to ensure the relationship remains strong. It’s also a complete joy to see the expertise and skill that goes into every single piece of Otiumberg jewellery.
OUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
We believe that understanding your impact is the first step to becoming a responsible business. That is why we carry out a Life Cycle Assessment annually to see where our footprint lies and what areas we need to improve on.
Whilst we believe that looking internally and improving the footprint of our own production and supply chain is the best way to be responsible, we also recognise the value of offsetting where we fall short. We know that carbon calculations are not perfectly accurate, but they are a great way to take immediate climate action. For the last few years we have invested in Gold Standard projects within our supply chain to attempt to mitigate our impact to some degree. The most recent offset for 2022 included investment in wind energy projects.
Read more on our Impact Measuring in our Annual Responsibility Report