What is Recycled Gold?
Recycled gold, as you may be able to guess, comes from refined or recycled precious metals which are no longer in use. The “recycling” process here means that the gold is melted down and refined until it reaches its most pure form. When compared to regularly mining gold out of the ground, recycling gold reduces negative environmental impacts and can be more cost-effective for everyone involved. At the end of the day, if you’ve got a bunch of gold lying around which someone doesn’t want, why not melt it down and make something that somebody else will really appreciate? We don’t believe in wastefulness here at Camellia Jewelry!
Yes, many of our unique engagement rings are made from recycled gold, bringing the price down and reducing our impact on the environment. If you find gold in any of our rings, there’s a strong chance that it’s gold which has been recycled from other sources. In fact, all of our unique engagement rings are sourced responsibly and ethically, whether they’re vintage engagement rings, morganite engagement rings, “inspired by nature” engagement rings, sunflower rings, rose gold engagement rings, moissanite engagement rings, or even vintage engagement rings.
Where does recycled gold come from?
This gold can come from numerous sources, including post-consumer products, waste, unused metal, and other gold-bearing products which people may sell to gold melting companies when they no longer want them. The difference between recycled gold and other forms of recycled jewelry is that the form of the gold changes. In other words, it is melted down and then remolded into the new piece of jewelry which is requested, whether that may be a sunflower ring, rose gold engagement ring, or one of Camellia Jewelry’s many unique engagement rings.
You see, normal gold mining means that we have to keep discovering new sources of gold which occur naturally within the earth. However, as time goes on, we are running out of places to get gold from, and sourcing companies are having to cut down precious natural forests and destroy natural habitats all for the sake of finding more gold to refine and sell. There’s a reason that the Californian gold rush stopped – there’s only so much gold to go around!
It is sometimes said that in order to extract enough gold for 1 gold ring, 20 tons of rocks and soil need to be displaced. This can have devastating effects on the local flora and fauna for these spots. It’s all well and good having an “inspired by nature” engagement ring, but most people would be displeased to find out that nature was destroyed in order to get it!
So is recycled gold more ethical?
Generally speaking, we can describe recycled gold as being more ethical than regular gold. This is because regular gold is often obtained through mining practices which are damaging to the local environment, communities, and sometimes the local population. For example, less-trustworthy gold retailers may source cheap gold from unethical mines which use child labor and unsafe working practices. On the other hand, recycled gold items are made from gold products which already existed, so you can rest assured that no additional harm is being done to the world.
Of course, a brand could always lie about its gold and claim that it’s 100% recycled gold when it isn’t, but we believe in honesty and transparency here at Camellia Jewelry. We know that our customers want gold jewelry which is ethically sourced and conflict free, helping to stimulate the economies of developing nations while keeping our precious jewelry clean and ethical from mine to market. We sell many unique engagement rings made from recycled gold and other ethical materials, including sunflower rings, moissanite engagement rings, rose gold engagement rings, morganite engagement rings, and more.
The bottom line
Recycled gold is so popular because gold happens to be a naturally renewable resource, meaning that it can be melted down and recycled time and time again without ever losing its purity or value over time. This way, high-quality gold can be recycled over and over again, making it easier than ever for businesses like Camellia Jewelry to keep bringing our customers high-value high-grade gold which has definitely not been newly obtained in an unethical manner.
We ensure that our trading partners are transparent, sustainable, and ethical here at Camellia Jewelry. As a result, many of our suppliers use recycled gold to create unique pieces which are not damaging to the environment or vulnerable communities in other parts of the world.
So, whether you’re looking for unique engagement rings, vintage engagement rings, morganite engagement rings, sunflower rings, “inspired by nature” engagement rings, moissanite engagement rings or rose gold engagement rings, you can rest assured that Camellia Jewelry is selling above-board products!