With an Engagement, Wedding or newborn child comes commitment. An unwavering commitment to bring joy to another's life which in turn brings enrichment to you through their happiness. The choice of a ring to mark such an occasion also brings commitment, a commitment to care for the earth from which it came.

At Utopian Creations we specialise in eco-friendly wedding and engagement rings, borrowing our materials from the past and present to make history.

Gold, Platinum and Silver

Traditionally a pair of wedding rings will create approximately thirty two tonnes of mining waste, not to mention the dangerous chemicals such as cyanide and mercury that are still used widly to extract gold, land degradation, habitat loss and then more chemicals and harmful waste during manufacture of the rings. Unfortunately metal mining is generally a dirty process and refining can lead to dangerous chemicals and metals being released into our eco-systems. Utopian Creations have signed the No Dirty Gold pledge to stop dirty gold mining, http://www.nodirtygold.org and urge you to do the same. Here in Australia there are no precious mining operations that fit our ethical beliefs, therefore we choose to use recycled metals. These metals are in no way inferior to mined metals, in most cases they are elementarily and aesthetically identical with some of the alloys we use containing higher quality metals than you will find at a high street jewellery store. Fairtrade certified gold is finally becoming available however currently in very low quantities. This gold is mined but with care to the environment and most importantly most of the profits and jobs created go back into the disadvantaged communities where the gold is mined.

Diamonds

Diamonds are also a cause for concern when choosing any jewellery, especially something as special as an engagement or wedding ring. Environmental damage from the mining its self, labour injustice (child labour, low pay, health and safety) and native land rights are just some of the ethical questions that must be asked. At Utopian Creations we hold grave doubts about any industrial size mining operations being ethical due to the large amount of energy needed to remove the host rock "Approximately 250 tonnes of ore must be dug from the ground to produce a one carat (200 mg) polished diamond of gem quality" (http://www.australianminesatlas.gov.au/education/rock_files/diamond.jsp). Australian diamond mining is about as good as large scale diamond mining gets as our government requires money to be put aside for repair and revegetation on the mine site before digging begins. Unlike metal mining there is little risk of soil contamination as chemicals aren't used in extraction but huge volumes of energy are consumed removing the rock needed to find the diamonds and the soil can contain some contaminants. Unlike the Canadian mines Australias Argyle mine does not have the same water/soil contamination risks. Check out some photos of diamond mines here in Australia and make up your own mind. No mines are pretty and I still wonder just how well these scars will heal in our outback, but rehabilitation programs are in place and may infact have a positive impact on the landscape.

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/content/2008/s2621581.htm

http://www.riotintodiamonds.com/ENG/ourmines/argyle_diamond_diamonds.asp

Utopian Creations understand the long history behind the giving of a diamond, the link between everlasting love and the everlasting strength and the beauty that is a diamond. We don't believe this should to be lost, however we also don't believe it should come with an unbalanced cost of our environment or human suffering. Therefore we specialize in vintage and antique diamonds as well as offering newly mined diamonds from a few well run mines with comprehensive environmental and social policy's in place. Australian diamonds are available in all their glorious colours, including high quality white and pink. All our newly mined diamonds are faceted under strict guidelines that include no child labour, adequate health and safety and fair pay to all involved. Many are certified by Jeweltree.com, all are traceable to the mine.

By wearing an antique or vintage diamond you and your family are adding to the history of the diamond, a history that may already date back hundreds of years. On average, diamonds are thought to be 2-3 billion years old, however most of that time was spent underground. With an antique diamond and recycled gold ring you will be adding to a list of stories (if only the ring could talk), 100-5000 years in human circulation! Most of our antique diamonds were collected from rivers and streams and cut by hand before the use of electricity and show the amazing skill of the craftspeople at the time. If you are after a modern cut diamond like a Brilliant or Princess, don’t worry because we carry them too either newly mined or vintage. There is no way of knowing the history of a vintage or antique gem or diamond other than in some cases its approximate age. We have spent many years building relationships with a number of vintage and antique diamond and gem dealers. These dealers are based in the UK and the USA, they are specialist in the field of secondhand gems and diamonds providing gems that are in perfect condition.

Cultured (synthetic) diamonds are also available on request although they are not something we normaly cary. These diamonds are not fake as they are in every way diamonds, the only difference is that they are made in a laboritory rather than deep underground. The great benefit of cultured diamonds is the small energy footprint creating them compaired to mining a diamond. There are other angles that need to be considered when buying a cultured diamond such as who is benifiting from the money spent on the diamond and its future value if the technology is more widly adopted lowering all cultured diamond value. Just contact us for further information.

All our vintage, antique and newly mined diamonds over 1/2ct come with a full independent valuation from the DCLA (http://www.dcla.com.au/) so you can be assured of the diamonds high quality.

We donate 1% of all diamond jewellery sales to Oxfam International, similar to a royalty paid to an artist, to help relieve the suffering in world’s poorest regions some of which have, and continue to be adversely affected by the diamond industry. These wonderful crystals last many lifetimes and through recycling and the payment of a royalty such as this the communities where they were found can continue to benefit forever.

Coloured Gems

We use the same guidelines for sourcing our coloured gems as with our diamonds, however there are more small miners able to supply newly mined gems that follow sustainable mining techniques while providing a custody chain from mine to ring. This includes fairly paid, adult workers mining and faceting the gemstones. In most cases coloured gems are closer to the surface than current diamond stocks and therefore need less energy to mine. Many of the newly mined coloured gems we provide are mined here in Australia, like beautiful Sapphires from a number areas in NSW and Queensland with a wonderful colour range from stunning greens to the traditional deep blue. From time to time we carefully choose gems from other countries less fortunate than our own, helping to provide an income to local communities while making sure their environment is respected.

Our vintage and antique coloured gems are also sourced from dealers around the world providing us with every colour of the rainbow. When we offer these gems for sale they are always in perfect condition, either undamaged when arriving to us or if showing wear from their former life they are sent to our local gem cutter who restores them to their former beauty.

“Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good." Gandhi.

Utopian Creations offer a number of engagement and wedding/commitment rings that follow a minimalistic, organic design ethos, however our sustainable designer Ben Manning is available to work with you to produce custom made rings to your specification. We have diamonds and coloured gems that can be viewed in our store, Studio Eco and we can post these out for interstate customers to view if a deposit is paid. If you're after something we don’t have in stock we should be able to locate something suitable within a couple of days.