Maren's founding story: The path to sustainable luxury

I am Helge Maren, a trained jewelry designer and the founder of Maren Jewellery. I founded Maren Jewellery in 2020 with the clear vision of revolutionizing the jewelry industry and offering sustainable luxury jewelry for discerning customers. My idea is to create pieces of jewelry that are not only aesthetically appealing but also ethically and environmentally consciously produced. Each individual piece of jewelry has an emotional story and special meaning for me, which is why every Maren jewelry piece is filled with a lot of love for detail, craftsmanship, and a deep respect for human beings and nature.

As a child, I was already fascinated by the emotional significance that jewelry can convey and possess. It was clear to me early on that I wanted to become a jewelry designer, that I wanted to give people the joy and elegance that is so closely connected to a special piece of jewelry for me. Soon I began designing small pieces of jewelry myself and felt the joy it brought me. Even during my first internship at the age of 15 in a goldsmith's workshop, I was thrilled by how one can put a part of oneself into a piece of jewelry at the workbench. Whether it's love, time, or attention - somehow the pieces of jewelry that people forge always seem to fit them.

This passion accompanied me through my jewelry design studies in Pforzheim and my years in the jewelry industry, where I eventually worked as Head of Design for a renowned brand.

Throughout all these exciting years, I have been able to delve deeply into jewelry design, materials, and craftsmanship, with my love for jewelry growing deeper. It is no longer just about creating a beautiful, fitting piece of jewelry for me, but about the overall work, made up of many small details, such as the origin of my materials or certain techniques that have existed for millennia. The more I delved into jewelry, the stronger my passion grew.

In 2019, I took a break and traveled with my VW bus across Norway to the North Cape and back through Finland. Here, I listened to my inner voice and then founded Maren Jewellery at the beginning of 2020 to realize my vision of jewelry that is not only aesthetically appealing but also reflects my mindful values. Jewelry that supports women in being themselves and is produced sustainably and consciously.

I believe that every person has a responsibility for our environment. Everyone can ensure in their life that everything is in harmony with nature where possible. I have been privately engaged in sustainability and a vegan lifestyle for a long time, and I find it particularly exciting to apply this to jewelry design. I started with the question: What could sustainable luxury jewelry look like? What materials are used? How do you establish a sustainable supply chain?

Mindfulness, sustainability, and responsibility are therefore the basic attitudes of my company, as also stated in my WeMind Initiative. Everything should and must be examined and carefully considered from all angles. This holistic sustainable approach has presented many challenges. It was particularly difficult for me to establish a completely sustainable supply chain. It took me a while to find partners who not only share my values but also my sustainable vision. For example, finding a refinery that works only with recycled gold, and that is also CO2 neutral and certified, as well as local in Germany, took many weeks of verification and research. But I am glad to have finally found C. Hafner!

However, since not only the materials of the jewelry are important to me, but also my craftsmanship partners or the packaging, every small step in the supply chain was a huge challenge. For example, my Paper Case jewelry boxes, which were not only sustainably developed from paper by me and Gmund, but also produced locally in Germany.

I am glad that I took the time and was able to find truly ideal partners who represent exactly what I envision for Maren Jewellery. Therefore, I can now proudly and transparently present all partners and the entire supply chain in my Sustainability Report.

At the end of 2020, I finally designed, produced, and launched my first own collection and I am so happy to finally merge all my creativity with my passion for timeless design and sustainability. It feels great to do exactly what I am passionate about and to work with various sustainable producers who share my vision and values.

So far, Maren Jewellery has been a truly impressive journey for me, which is exhausting at times but also often feels like a dream. Particularly special for me was that my sustainable work was recognized in 2022 with the German Design Award for outstanding design quality in the category Excellent Product Design - Eco Design and the Green Product Award. Also, passing the rigorous certifications to become a B-Corporation and RJC made me feel that everything is moving in the right direction with Maren Jewellery.

I am also very excited that in recent years, Maren has been featured in magazines such as Vogue, Elle, or Cosmopolitan, and that I even had the opportunity to shoot a documentary about sustainable jewelry with ZDF.

But the greatest success for me is that I am gaining more and more lovely new customers. Many of you keep coming back to shop with me, and it is so wonderful to accompany you on your jewelry journey! So thank you very much for all your orders with me!

My long-term goal at Maren Jewellery is the circular economy. I have already made progress towards this goal through various measures, such as using recycled precious metals and avoiding plastic in my packaging. However, I continue to work towards not needing any new materials in the future and making Maren Jewellery even more sustainable.

Furthermore, I aim to continue to inspire a change in mindset, both within myself, the procurement process, and of course, with you, by sharing knowledge about jewelry manufacturing practices and their impact on the environment.

This can lead to a critical examination of the impacts and bring about sustainable change in the jewelry industry.

It would make me very happy if you accompany me on my journey and allow my jewelry to become a part of your story.