All That Glitters is Recycled Gold

In the heart of downtown Bellingham, sits Apse Jewelry where sustainability is at the heart of every piece.

Story by Jade Weston // Photos by Nicola Wasmuth

March 16, 2022

Nestled in a cozy studio space in the heart of downtown Bellingham is Apse, a small jewelry business started in 2016. The founders, husband and wife duo Hayley Boyd and Jarod Faw, lead a tour of their workspace. The pair, who met at Western Washington University in the Fine Arts Program, wear aprons splattered with silver dust and a chemical cocktail used for polishing gemstones.

Boyd and Faw open drawers packed with spools of recycled metals. Worktables are littered with tools and half-finished jewelry pieces. The couple, naturally, is adorned with lots of jewelry themselves. Glistening slabs of gemstone are kept behind lock and key.

Apse is a small jewelry business trying to combat the environmental cost of accessorizing. Conventional jewelry has a harsh environmental impact because of the harmful chemicals left behind by mining, which requires a large amount of energy. Apse is stepping away from that, by using recycled materials to create jewelry that stands the test of time.

“From the mine to the point of sale, we are kind of admitted to a fairy tale. We love gold, we love diamonds and we completely forget the process,” said Ivan Coste-Manière, co-author of “Sustainable Luxury and Jewelry,” a book about the ethics of consumption trends in high-end jewelry.

Industrial-scale gold mining generates massive amounts of contaminated waste, which can have devastating effects on nearby water sources. A legacy of contamination is left all across the Pacific Northwest, according to the Abandoned Mines Program in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Out of the 52,000 abandoned mine sites they track, 20% have been — or are in the process of being — decontaminated.

This played out in Okanogan County, Washington, where the Buckhorn Mountain gold mine knowingly released pollutants at illegal levels into nearby streams. Despite the mine closing in 2017, toxic substances are still leaking out of the mine sites and causing harm to fish, humans and the ecosystem, according to a report from Washington state’s Attorney General.

In 2020, global gold production was estimated at 190 tons or more than 15,000 gold bars. About 30% of that gold went to the jewelry industry, according to a mineral commodity report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Extracted gold and silver going unused, like leftover scraps and old jewelry, can be recycled through a purifying and melting process. At Apse, reuse is a priority.

To Boyd, sustainable jewelry implies “a willingness to put in the work to find out where [materials] are from.”

Apse’s owners research suppliers and source their recycled metal from the Louisiana-based company Stuller. Stuller supplies refined and recycled metals and is certified by the Responsible Jewelry Council, which sets the world’s leading standard in sustainable jewelry supply and production.

Using primarily recycled materials, Apse provides a new life for the metals already unearthed and discarded.

“This is real gold. This is something you’re going to pass down to your grandchildren.” — Jarod Faw

Apse jewelry is made to order, eliminating the chance of any extra wasted product left gathering dust on shelves or in storage rooms.

One of their pieces, the Basin Ring, has a large, flat gem surrounded by a chunky metal band made out of either sterling silver, gold vermeil or solid gold. When making the gold vermeil version, the ring is first cast in fully recycled sterling silver. Around half of that silver is purchased from the Stuller company, while the other half comes from leftovers floating around the Apse studio.

Their metal providers are reliable, but the same can’t always be said for the gemstones.

“It’s a totally different game,” Boyd said.

When sourcing the Basin Ring’s distinctive hawk’s eye stones — gems with a dark background and glittery, colored stripes — the pair reaches out to independent miners, often found on Etsy. To trace where the gems came from, they ask, ‘Who mined this?’ and ‘Where?’ Sometimes it can take a few weeks to source a stone that meets Apse’s standards.

Other gems Apse uses are lab-grown. Coste-Manière has first-hand experience with growing stones in a lab, where he replicates the processes that occur in nature in a more controlled environment. The base component of a diamond is pure carbon, and when scientists put that carbon under immense pressure while controlling the reaction, diamonds are made.

Coste-Maniere hates when the word “synthetic” is used to describe lab-grown gemstones. The negative implications of “synthetic” gems make the benefits, like reduced waste and improved ethical production, fade to the background.

“When we are making them there’s no pollution. We know exactly how to control, to lead, the reactions,” Coste-Manière said. “You can’t be injuring anybody from having zero waste by the end of the process.”

Once the hawk’s eye stone is set and the ring is polished, Apse sends it to Red Sky Plating in New Mexico, where they plate a thick layer of gold on top of the ring. The Planet was unable to confirm if Red Sky uses recycled gold.

This plating is five times thicker than the layers found on most conventionally produced jewelry. After a 4,800 kilometer journey and a $180 payment, a customer receives their new ring.

Other Apse jewelry can cost as little as $40 for a thin band of sterling silver or as much as $1,400 for a solid 14-karat gold chain with a dangling sapphire pendant.

Faw believes small businesses can teach people about sustainable purchasing and compares fast fashion to what he terms as “fast jewelry.” Customers accustomed to the prices of cheap mass-produced jewelry will ask him why Apse is more expensive.

“We do have to do quite a bit of educating,” Faw said. “This is real gold. This is something you’re going to pass down to your grandchildren.”

Apse emphasizes the longevity of their jewelry. If a customer finds their Basin Ring no longer fits, they can contact the business for adjustments, resizing and repair.

The Apse Swap program allows previously-purchased pieces to be recycled back into production in exchange for store credit. In April, the company will expand that program by accepting unwanted jewelry pieces, stamped and verified, to be recycled back into their production.

Apse isn’t the only business thinking sustainably. Aaron Getzin is a Bellingham-based jewelry designer who uses 100% recycled metals to craft chains, putting them together link by link.

“Every piece that I make is made to last a lifetime and be worn every day,” Getzin said. People who are financially able should try to buy long-lasting jewelry that can be melted down to make new things, he said.

If people are interested in other modes of sustainable accessorizing, Boyd suggests looking for vintage jewelry collections. No production needs to happen to source these antique pieces.

“It’s literally just giving a second life to something,” Boyd said.

Consumers often weigh the longevity and timelessness of items when deciding where to spend their money and what pieces to add to their wardrobe. Faw recommends taking the time to see what a brand has to say about their process, calling it a “yellow flag” when there’s no mention.

“You’re always going to be learning new ways and developing, and there’s only so much you can do in any given time,” Faw said. “We feel that being honest and doing the best we can is all that anyone could ever ask any other person to do.”

For Boyd, sustainable jewelry is all about intention, starting with the design and following through to the purchase.

“[It’s] taking the time to save up for a piece or intentionally purchasing a piece that’s going to outlast your wear and tear that also has that meaning and significance and helps you tell your story,” Boyd said.

Sun beams in through Apse’s glass storefront, shining on the hanging plants whose tendrils reach from the ceiling to the floor. It’s the Friday before Valentine’s Day, and a glowing couple stride to the doorway, ready for their meeting with Boyd and Faw. The pair are picking up custom rings for their wedding that weekend.

Moments like these, when Boyd and Faw can see the customers so excited, remind them why this work matters.

Jade Weston is an environmental studies student at Western’s College of the Environment. She enjoys the curation of long-lasting and secondhand possessions to reduce consumption.