Why Concrete?

The beautiful thing about concrete jewelry is that the final product can be given different characteristics, shapes, textures and colors - yet no two pieces are the same. The possibilities with concrete are limitless.

In our jewelry collection, you will find a variety of colors, roughness and material combinations. All of these have been crafted through additions of pigments and aggregates. Finishing touches and detail on the surface comes only from hand crafting, sanding and acid washes. To keep this final look long-lasting, each piece is sealed with a natural sealant.

It is indeed, an incredible and an amazing material to work with. Slight changes using pigments, dye or stain can create beautiful and one of a kind works. Beside the coloring techniques, you can also get very interesting and unique look and texture by using different types of aggregates. Here at Concreted, we tend to use natural pigments for coloring along with slight acid etching techniques to gain some unique textures. You may read more in-depth about our coloring techniques in this post. 

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The Metals:

As a general rule, we only make what we would wear ourselves. Jewelry findings come in a variety of metals and combinations and while many of them may be durable or long lasting, that doesn't mean it is something you want on your body or through your ears. All of our jewelry is paired with sterling silver (with gold and rose gold plating or gold filled), surgical steel or niobium. Metals are naturally occurring materials on earth, but many can cause negative effects and reactions with the body. All our silver component are sterling silver 925, purchased from a European manufacturer with all the necessary quality controls. The other metal components such as surgical steel, niobium and gold filled are purchased from a reputable manufacturer in the United States. 

The Concrete:

Like the restaurant chef who has their own secret recipe, the concrete manufacturers also have their own secret recipes, a specific formula that gives the unique end result. Concrete consists of many different additive materials, including the quality of the cement used in it, the amount of water, temperature of the water and the environment. The amount of aggregates and types of aggregate also affect the quality of the concrete. Here in our small lab, we have developed our own signature recipe that we are so proud of. 

The Sustainability:

According to GCCS, Concrete has excellent sustainability qualities. The industry has made significant progress in reducing its CO2 emissions from cement manufacturing. The cement industry has reduced its carbon emissions by 19% since 1990 (GCCA in Numbers, 2020). The industry also launched Climate Ambition to provide society with carbon neutral concrete by 2050, in line with global climate targets. Today, concrete suppliers and designers, and in turn their clients and customers, can use concrete to minimise carbon footprints by: optimising mix, the efficient use of materials and recognising the carbon uptake potential of concrete to permanently sequester CO2 in buildings. Concrete can also be reused and at end of life is 100% recyclable.