Azuni London

Designed in London since 1996. Beaded in Guatemala for almost as long.

Azuni London makes gold and silver plated jewellery set with semi-precious stones, which is a plain enough description until you find out where the beadwork comes from. Ashley Marshall founded the brand in London and has spent the three decades since working with small co-operatives and family workshops rather than factories, on the reasonable grounds that they are better at it.

Where the beadwork actually happens.

In a workshop in the Guatemalan hills, alongside Mayan partners the brand has worked with for more than twenty-five years. Azuni's own account of it is more interesting than the usual supply chain paragraph: the workshop runs on flexible hours and, in their words, provides job opportunities and independence for women who would otherwise have few options beyond farm work. Gemstones come mostly from small family workshops in India, several of those relationships now running close to fifteen years.

A brand that argues with its own certification.

Azuni states that its gemstone suppliers are members of the Responsible Jewellery Council, and then, on the same page, points out that the RJC has itself been questioned on transparency and encourages buyers to look into any certification properly before trusting it. Brands do not usually undercut their own credentials in public. Where a brand holds a certification we name it on its own page, with the certifying body attached, which is rather easier when the brand has already done the naming.

What you are actually buying.

Gold plate and silver plate over base metal rather than solid precious metal, set with semi-precious stones and glass beadwork. Priced accordingly, which is the honest way round. The beadwork is the part to look at closely, since it is done a bead at a time by the people described above.

Find them here.

Have a browse through the earrings, necklaces and bracelets and charms, or the wider jewellery edit. Azuni sits among our British brands and our small batch selection, and turns up often in gifts for her. Sort the whole marketplace by purpose, or read the stories behind the brands in the journal.