Black Finch Jewellery is an established Northcote studio specialising in custom designed, artisan made, ethically defensible jewellery. Raymond and Davina, along with their small team of skilled craftspeople, create contemporary pieces out of million-year-old materials for people to say, in multiple ways, I care. In short, Black Finch is in the business of love.

The ancient and mysterious world of precious stones and metal has a long history of problematic associations with corruption, both environmental and human. Black Finch emphatically rejects any part of this. It uses 100% recycled gold, prefers recycled silver (sourced from x-ray films of all places!) and works with the diamond industry to ensure its mostly Australian-sourced stones are conflict-free.

In addition to working on the ethics and sustainability of their core business, Black Finch has lately established a project called Legacy of Love. They are determined to, as they put it, become leaders ‘in the delivery of swift, uncompromising improvement to practice, sourcing, and impacts’. This includes addressing the environmental impact of their own business activities. Legacy of Love is a partnership with Fifteen Trees that pledges to plant one tree per piece of jewellery sold. Black Finch says of each special tree:

Not only will it draw down tons of carbon across its life and provide precious habitat for our wildlife, but will act as a living legacy of (the buyer’s) commitment to another person or moment in time.

 

Black Finch’s latest contribution has been to plant 792 trees of which 157 trees were planted as part of a revegetation project at one of our sites in Tasmania. A wide variety of native trees and shrubs (from tea tree through to stringybark) were planted across degraded paddocks by Landcare Tasmania volunteers. The resulting small forest will extend existing habitat areas; providing shelter, protection and food for quolls, devils, wombats, and a plethora of native birds. It will also give stability to the land, quality to the water table, and enjoyment to generations to come as the revegetated areas come back to life.

Another 635 trees were planted by Mornington Peninsular Koala Conservation, VIC. The group are revegetating a few hectares of land in Arthurs Seat State Park. This park is a part of a biolink which adjoins landholders and is part of a larger project that is continuing in the years to come. The conservation group works to raise awareness of the challenges koalas face by providing a suitable habitat and a safe environment to ensure there is a healthy population on the Mornington Peninsula.

A living, loving legacy indeed. The symbolism behind some of our tree plantings just makes our hearts sing.

If you would like to form a partnership with Fifteen Trees and help support community planting groups with their tree planting projects, please get in contact with us at <[email protected]>.

Writer – Sarah Hart.

Sarah is an artist whose passions include the stories and experiences of women and narrative driven creative work. Her aim is to delight, to reveal glimpses of everyday beauty, and to celebrate flights of the ordinary. Sarah works across a range of media, with an abiding interest in pen and ink, mixed media and the human form. You can find Sarah here.