St.Ives Silver

St.Ives Silver is a Cornish based company that sources their collections of jewellery from individuals and small-scale businesses all over the world. The company was set up by Ruth Nicoll and Tristan Evans and they operate two Cornish shops. St.Ives Silver only buy from people that they have met on several occasions so that they can be assured that their company ethics are sound. They buy as directly as is feasible which ensures a good price for their artisans. By buying directly from artisans also ensures that more unusual products can be sourced. As St.Ives Silver do not purchase from catalogues, much of their jewellery are actually 'one-off' pieces. They are all otherwise unique, in that they are hand made from talent local artisans. Although they are not affiliated with a ‘fair trade' umbrella organisation, they act upon clear cut criteria to ensure that their ethical trading requirements are met.

One of the main places St.Ives Silver source their pieces is in India. Their artisans in India are based around the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan the jewellery capital of the world. The jewellery industry is the life-blood of this beautiful city with over 50% of its working age population within its employment. The artisans are from village families and do not work within a factory environment. This enabling them to live and work at home within a ‘cottage industry' structure. The workers can then afford for their children to go to school and go on to better jobs. The handmade Indian jewellery is primarily stone set and plain silver for more traditional pieces.