By Maggie Ritchie

FORGOTTEN and unloved jewellery pieces will sparkle once more when they are transformed into glittering new accessories to raise money for charity.

People are being asked to search through their jewellery boxes to rescue tangled chains, unmatched earrings, unwanted brooches and broken bracelets to donate to the Radical Jewellery Makeover.

The Scottish Goldsmiths Trust (SGT) and Ethical Metalsmiths have teamed up with Scotland’s art colleges to bring the community jewellery mining project, which started in the US, to the UK for the first time.

Between now and 7 January the RJM Scotland team is asking people to “mine” their jewellery boxes for unwanted items and either pop them in the post or leave them at a drop-off point.

They will then be remade by jewellery and silversmithing students and tutors into new pieces that will go on show in an exhibition and sale in Glasgow at the end of March, with proceeds funding further efforts to educate and connect people with responsibly sourced materials. Donors will receive a discount coupon to put towards buying new pieces.

Karen Westland, SGT’s Ethical Making Programme Manager, said: “The Radical Jewellery Makeover is a great way to recover all the unworn, unloved, unfashionable and broken jewellery – or pieces that are no longer your style – that are lurking at the bottom of boxes, bags and drawers and give it a fresh chance to glitter.

“We want to highlight the creativity of Scotland’s makers and designers, while raising awareness and inspiring action around climate change, fast fashion and sustainability.

“Much of a product's social and environmental impact is down to the materials that are used. Choosing materials that are ethically and sustainably sourced is critical to reducing our impact on the environment.

“Combining responsible material sourcing with innovative design transforms how and why we make and creates a sustainable, stronger legacy of making for the future – a future of making that can help fight climate change and inequality.”

The idea to bring the remaking project to Scotland came from SGT’s student ambassadors who were keen to build on the outcomes of COP26 by developing a circular economy initiative that would turn waste and unwanted materials into useful and desirable new pieces.

The jewellery recycling project is part of SGT’s Ethical Making Pledge, signed by the seven Scottish art colleges teaching jewellery and silversmithing.

The students and staff taking part come from Glasgow School of Art, City of Glasgow College, Edinburgh College of Art, Fife College, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and Glasgow Kelvin College.

Among them are Honor Dodd and Ramsay Pagett from Edinburgh College of Art (pictured).

Honor, 19, said: “The Radical Jewellery Makeover is an exciting and refreshing way to upcycle jewellery and get students involved in taking direct action to counter the effects of fast fashion and accessories.

“As someone who cares passionately about climate change and the human impact on our earth, I’m glad programmes like this are taking the initiative to get students involved in a hands-on manner in ways to reduce our impact on the earth and do what we can for future generations. This begins to set a precedent and show what can be done.

“It’s also lovely to give old jewellery new life. I’m a bit of a magpie in charity shops and pick up items that you can see have once had value and been greatly loved as they are quite worn. They have come to the end of their journey for someone and it’s time for a new one to start.”

RJM has been working with communities since 2007, educating jewellers of all levels about mining and material sourcing issues involved. It draws attention to local designers, reveals the stories behind our personal collections and encourages people to rethink their habits of consumption.

Materials used in jewellery production are often sourced from some of the poorest countries in the world, from sacred lands and disputed territories, often at great cost to the environment.

Some supply chains profit on the unfair, forced and unsafe labour of workers, while artisanal small-scale mining of precious metals and stones, which supply 20 per cent of the world’s gold, 80 per cent of world’s sapphires and 20 per cent of the world’s diamonds, is less regulated, more physically laborious and riskier for miners than large-scale mining, according to ethical advocates the Incorporation of Goldsmiths.

And when precious materials are sourced in war zones, they can be stolen to finance conflict. The most well-known of these materials is conflict diamonds but this can occur with any natural resource.

Ebba Goring, chief executive of the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust said: “More and more students are concerned about the environmental and social impact of the chemicals and materials used in jewellery making, and with the problem of the supply of precious metals and stones.

“We support fully recycled materials and fair trade and fair mined supplies where the money goes back to the miners and to sources that meet environmental standards and welfare standards such as the use of PPE and no child labour.”

•To donate jewellery of any quality, quantity or material, including costume pieces, visit www.scottishgoldsmithstrust.org/radical-jewellery-makeover. The exhibition will be held in Glasgow at a location to be confirmed at the end of March and will also be available online.