life cycle assessment of our jewelry pieces

Sustainability is not a trend for us; it is our foundation. But how climate-friendly is aJewelry piece by Maren Jewellerywirklich? Wir haben nachgerechnet – und verglichen. Das Ergebnis: Unsere Schmuckstücke verbrauchen in der Herstellung im Schnitt nur 0,4 kg CO₂e. Herkömmlicher Luxusschmuck hingegen verursacht 29,27 kg CO₂e pro Stück – das ist 73-mal mehr (1)

Our low CO2e footprint results from conscious decisions at every single step in our value chain.

Eco Diamonds:Oursynthetically produced diamondscause on average 11.8 kg CO₂e per carat (4) – conventionally mined diamonds, on the other hand, at least 56 kg CO₂e per carat (4)(8)(9).

Recycled Goldvon C.Hafner: Our gold is CO₂-neutral (2)(5) – compared to conventional gold, which is associated with up to 16,000 kg CO₂e per kg (5)(6).

All these factors add up: Taking into account all the office work in the companies we collaborate with as well as the work of our freelancers, the total average CO2e footprint per piece of jewelry amounts to 31.5kg.(10) The pureManufacture of a piece of jewelryon average, however, it only accounts for 0.4kg CO2e.

As a reminder, the production of a standard piece of jewelry amounts to an average of 29.27kg CO2e. That is 73 times more than us. Here we see great potential for more sustainability and want to inspire other companies and our customers with our approach.

But we go even further.

With every piece of jewelry sold, we offset 100 kg of CO₂e – regardless of the actual consumption. This not only makes us climate neutral, but alsoclimate positive.

In ourSustainability Reportzeigen wir offen den CO₂e-Verbrauch verschiedener Schmuckstücke – mit direkten Vergleichswerten zur konventionellen Schmuckindustrie. Wer es genau wissen will, findet dort alle Zahlen, Herleitungen und Quellen.

Our goal:sustainable jewelry, which is not only beautiful but also responsible – for you and our planet.

(1) For the calculation of the CO2 values of Maren Jewellery pieces, we have used the following parameters from studies: On average, 11.8kg CO2e (4) are emitted per carat of our synthetic Eco diamonds. Our recycled gold from C.Hafner is CO2e neutral, so 0kg CO2e are emitted per kg here (2)(5). For our recycled silver, we use 14.5kg CO2e per kg of silver. (3) For conventionally produced jewelry, we have used the lowest CO2e values found in studies: 56kg CO2e per carat of diamond (4)(8)(9), 16,000kg CO2e per kg of gold (5)(6), and 100kg CO2e per kg of silver (3)(7). More details can be found in the Material chapter. The production costs were calculated based on the following study: (3)

(2) Fritz, B.; Aichele, C.; Schmidt, M., "Environmental impact of high-value gold scrap recycling" The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 2020 / This study was conducted based on data from various German refineries – including our own refinery. Our refinery, C.Hafner from Pforzheim, is even more efficient than others: per kg of gold, it produces only 29kg CO2e. And that's not all: the CO2 is offset, making the gold CO2e neutral.

(3) Parnuwat Usapein, Chantra Tongcumpou, "Greenhouse Gas Emission in Jewelry Industry: A Case Study of Silver Flat Ring" 2016

(4) Standford Magazine, Andy Martin, "A Man-Made Diamond Is Forever, Too: Nitty-gritty" Online] Available:https://stanfordmag.org/contents/a-man-made-diamond-is-forever-too-nitty-gritty. Accessed on 2025.05.03

(5) Dr. Philipp Reisert, "What is more sustainable: gold mining or gold recycling" [Online] Available:https://blog.c-hafner.de/oekologischer-fussabdruck-was-ist-nachhaltiger-goldgewinnung-oder-goldrecycling/. Accessed on 2025.05.03

(6) World Gold Council, "Gold and climate change – Current and future impacts" [Online] Available:https://issuu.com/christinadianparmionova/docs/gold_and_climate_change-current_and_future_impacts.Accessed on 2025.05.03

(7) Philip Nuss1, Matthew J. Eckelman, "Life Cycle Assessment of Metals: A Scientific Synthesis" 2014

(8) Dr Gbemi Oluleye – Research Fellow Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, "Environmental Impacts of Mined Diamonds" 2019

(9) Better Diamond Initiative, "Environmental cost of Mined Diamonds is alarming" [Online] Available:https://de.slideshare.net/slideshow/environmental-cost-of-mined-diamonds-is-alarming/42419020/. Accessed on 2025.05.03

(10) Maren Jewellery, "Sustainability Report" [Online] Available:https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0405/0268/9954/files/Nachhaltigkeitsreport_Maren_Jewellery_2024_full.pdf?v=1717496952Accessed on 2025.05.02 Page 11 -15