Why do none of your products use traditional metals like fine gold, sterling silver, or brass?
We don’t use traditional metals for three main reasons:
1. Transparency. There’s a lot of talk about fair mined metals, but not a lot being done to prove this transparency. Getting to the source of gold and gemstones including recycled and reclaimed gold was a hurdle we weren’t able to overcome with certainty when we were starting Ready-Made and thinking about how to offer quality jewelry made with integrity. Vendors giving us their word didn’t feel enough.
2. The traditional manufacturing process for gold plating isn’t eco-friendly. Due to the nature of soft metals, traditional processes like wet plating and heat are utilized, and that can not only cause damage to the environment, but can also be harmful to factory workers.
3. We want to take the guesswork out of alloys (mixed metals). The materials we use - surgical stainless steel and titanium nitrite - are used in the medical field as surgical tools and implants. For the most part, our tissues don’t reject these two materials. With gold, silver, and brass, there’s always that risk of these alloys being mixed with metals that your body isn’t compatible with, leading to irritation.
