Adding Sustainability To Traditional Jewellery: Aulerth

With festivals encouraging gold consumption and a society that holds gold investments in high regard, India has always seen gold as a positive. So when the World Gold Council’s data disclosed gold consumption in India had increased to 797.3 tonnes in 2021, it wasn’t completely surprising. But while we consider gold auspicious culturally, it comes with a host of environmental concerns like mercury and cyanide pollution, high carbon emissions and habitat destruction.

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But as fashion heads towards the path of sustainability with each passing day, sustainable jewellery options grow at an equal pace. We got the founder of Aulerth, Vivek Ramabhadran, to share what it takes to create a sustainable traditional jewellery brand. Aulerth houses traditional designs made out of sustainable materials like recycled industrial waste and high-quality stones. With three Indian designers in tow- Suneet Varma, Tribe by Amrapali and JJ Valaya- a customer gets three distinct design aesthetics under one roof, all the while being sustainable. According to Ramabhadran, design was of utmost importance, with sustainability being a basic necessity of the designs. “We follow a sustainable ethos because that’s what we believe in. We do not expect that our clients will all make a purchase just because it’s sustainable. So we have to challenge ourselves to create something that’s so exquisite in design, meticulously crafted and so special to covet and own that the consumer should just buy it out of desire to own this product. And then the fact that it happens to be sustainable and therefore the carbon footprint is lower- that’s on us,” he says.

Image Source: Instagram/aulerthofficial

The highest comparability factor between traditional gold jewellery and jewellery at Aulerth is the attention to the longevity of the products. The base metal used is procured from industrial waste, which is then treated to fit the grade and weight required for high-quality jewellery. The base metal is then plated with gold for protective layering and durability. The stones used for Aulerth jewellery are man-made stones, meticulously picked by the brand as opposed to the manufacturers which is the norm, to ensure high quality. Apart from consciously sourced materials, some pieces from Aulerth are also convertible- like a necklace that can be worn in three different ways- something that’s useful when it comes to Indian jewellery which is worn only a few times.

Image Source: Instagram/aulerthofficial

Just like fine jewellery, Aulerth’s low carbon footprint jewellery also comes with buyback options- after 12 months of your purchase, you can opt for a buyback plan with the brand which will let you buy another piece at a discount. “We are creating jewellery for life. We encourage you that if you’re not going to wear it more than a few of number of times you bring it back to us after 12 months. But that’s because we have the confidence in the product to restore and resell,” explains Ramabhadran. The buyback, along with the fact that the brand provides lifetime maintenance for the jewellery makes you look at it as a long-term investment- much like you would with gold jewellery, which on the other hand is a lot more carbon-intensive.

Image Source: Instagram/aulerthofficial

Another factor the brand pays utmost attention to is product and process transparency. On each product page, one can find the amount of carbon footprint one can avoid by choosing the product over one made from gold, along with detailed information on all kinds of stones used by the brand.

Ramabhadran, aware of societal pressures and norms about buying gold jewellery when it comes to traditional pieces, says “Don’t be bogged down by society telling you what to do. Jewellery is a beautiful creative medium to express yourself. One should enjoy that part more rather than being trapped in societal expectations.”

Image Source: Instagram/aulerthofficial