In a world where waste is a pressing concern, a new wave of designers is emerging, using their creativity to transform discarded materials into stunning wearable pieces. For sure upcycling is more often used on pieces of clothing, involving textiles, leather or plastic materials, but can also be used for accessories such as jewels!
Among TA-DAAN artisans Mila Sai and Brot Jewellery stand out for their remarkable talent in upcycling glass, giving it new life and purpose.
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Glass is a perfect material for upcycling
Did you know that glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without losing its quality? Unlike other materials, glass can be recycled and turned into new products without any degradation in its properties. This makes it an ideal material for sustainable and eco-friendly practices, like upcycling discarded glass into beautiful jewelry pieces.
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Beach cleanups worldwide often report finding a significant amount of glass fragments along coastlines, you surely have noticed that too in your experience.
Broken glass bottles and other glass debris can accumulate on beaches due to improper disposal or natural processes like wave action and erosion.
Q&A with the artisans and founders behind Mila Sai and Brot Jewellery
We had a chat on the topic with Micaela Lucas, founder of Mila Sai and Julia Ventura, artisan and founder of Brot Jewellery. The two young small business owners (both based in Barcelona) have a strong commitment in creating environmentally conscious jewelry and they both work with discarded glass, but the style and result is totally different.
As a circular and sustainable small business, how do you source the discarded glass for your jewelry?
Micaela Lucas: We collect discarded glass from friends, restaurants, and artisans and select the glass that is in good condition to work with. Some of the glass is recycled and some of the glass is transformed into beautiful treasures. The raw material is manually shaped, our process involves heat and different techniques such as lamp-work and fusing.
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Can you share with us your process of collecting the sea glass used in your jewelry?
Julia Ventura: I've been collecting sea glasses since I was little in my coast town in Costa Brava, where collecting sea glasses is kind of a tradition.
So when I discovered jewelry making I thought it would have been interesting to work with this material, not only because it's a recyclable material, but also because conceptually I like the idea of linking the jewelry piece to the place I grew up.
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We admire the conscious design approach of Mila Sai. How do you design the new pieces? What inspired you to create VENUS earrings for example?
Micaela Lucas: We create with passion and we are in constant research, we are inspired by nature and its intricacy.The pieces come usually after a concept which is materialised in drawings, which most of the time are doodles or abstract shapes and sometimes realistic images that we translate into our visual language.
We complete the sketch with details on size, weight and color, this can change the shape from its original drawing into the final design.
Once the design is put into test with the materials we can have a prototype.
VENUS are a very special piece, sculptural and unique. Inspired by the planet and its unique qualities. Venus will highlight your charm as it highlights the sky!
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How do you work with glass? What techniques do you employ to give each piece its distinct character and durability?
Julia Ventura: The irregular shape of the glass crystals is created by the waves and the impact of glass against the rocks for years. Each crystal is unique for that, each is different.
I don't use any technique to work the glass because I think its more interesting and beautiful to maintain the original shape of the collected glass crystal. On the opposite I work the metal to adapt on the glass. I use different jewelry techniques and when I want a more organic aesthetic I use the lost wax technique.
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