Branch Jewellery - the story
At Mary Durward we are delighted to be stocking beautiful pieces from Branch Jewellery. Not only are their pieces a joy to wear (they are super-light and extremely tactile!) but they also have the most wonderful provenance. So here is the story of Branch's horn jewellery, as if you needed any more reasons to feel good about choosing it!
"Here at Branch jewellery we are passionate about producing ethical, sustainable products and we are pleased to introduce our new handmade Buffalo horn collection. Buffalo's are used widely in South East Asia for farming. Many small independent farmers use Buffalo to plough their rice fields. These hardworking and loyal animals are a huge investment for the farmer and because of this, they are treated as one of the family. The farmer understands that without a happy and healthy Buffalo he would not be able to farm his land and support his family. It is thought that Buffalo were domesticated around 5000 years ago and since then have been used for farming across Asia. A healthy Buffalo can live up to 40 years. Once this very much loved animal reaches old age and can no longer farm the fields the farmer will sell the Buffalo and the funds from this will go towards buying another Buffalo and so the cycle continues. From farming the fields the Buffalo then goes on to sustain the livelihoods of the local region. At the end of the Buffalo's life, there is no part of the Buffalo that is not put to use. The meat is of course eaten, its hide made into leather goods and its bone and horns are made into homewares and other items. Small cottage industry workshops have been producing items from Buffalo horn for a very long time and the process in doing this hasn't changed much over the years at all. This beautiful collection of horn jewellery is produced by small independent workshops using these age-old traditional methods. We ensure all production meets Fair Trade standards and are very proud of the low impact this by-product material has on the environment."