ABOUT US

Sustainable and Ethically Sourced Materials

Have you Heard of Vegetable Ivory or Tagua Nut?

The colourful and unique designs of Pretty Pink Eco-Jewellery come from a material that is neither a vegetable nor ivory, but you wouldn't know it by its name. Vegetable Ivory, or Tagua, is the dried seed from a large, fruited palm tree that is native to Brazil and the tropical rainforests of South America.

It can take forty years for these trees to produce their fruit, making the seeds inside them all the more precious. Each fruit contains between four and nine seeds ranging from the size of an olive to an avocado. The seed's cavity contains a refreshing liquid that, if harvested within six months, turns to a sweet, edible liquid. If left, however, this jelly turns into a hard, white substance similar to that of elephant tusks or animal teeth.

Precious as these seeds are, at Pretty Pink Eco-Jewellery, our ecosystem comes first. That's why the first crop of fruit is left for the "curicas", the birds of the Amazon rainforest. Only after two years is the fruit collected by hand from the forest floor.

Once collected, the seeds are removed from their husks and left to dry in the sun for about three months. Only then is Vegetable Ivory hard enough to be carved, sliced and drilled - much like real ivory - and capable of holding the colourful dyes that make our jewellery so unique. Unlike real ivory, however, Vegetable Ivory is a renewable resource that does not harm our animals or our planet when harvested.

How Vegetable Ivory Saves the Rainforest from Palm Oil Developers

At Pretty Pink Eco-Jewellery, we believe in taking care of our planet and our people. Recent research from Brazil found that the cultivation and harvesting of Vegetable Ivory within the Greater Amazonia region prevents loggers from chopping down trees to plant soya for biofuels - and keeps some 35,000 people gainfully employed.

In addition to Vegetable Ivory, we also source Açai seeds. Everything is used from the Açai trees - from its leaves, which are also where we find seeds that are used to make some of our pieces. Much like Vegetable Ivory, these seeds are sourced in a way that is good for our planet and good for our people.

Meet the Makers

Meet the Team Behind Pretty Pink Eco-Jewellery

Pretty Pink Eco-Jewellery was founded in 2005 by fashion enthusiast and Jewellery designer Ilana Ewing, who had the brilliant and compelling idea of bringing new designs and materials from the Amazon Rainforest, 60% of which is located in her native Brazil, to the ever-changing and developing fashion scene of Edinburgh, Scotland. Ilana's beautiful blends of raw and natural materials, vibrant colours, and encaptivating textures are created with respect, conscientiousness, responsibility, and heart. In 2018, Ilana partnered with fellow Edinburgh resident and Brazil native Amália Wragg to create stunning, vividly coloured, and pleasant pieces that allowed the two to showcase the wonder of their country of origin to the European market which was waiting for something new and unique to come along. Together, Ilana and Amália design and create classy jewellery using organic, natural, and ethically sourced materials from the Amazon rainforest of South America. Their pieces keep their charm without sacrificing sustainability.

At Pretty Pink Eco-Jewellery, we recognise the importance of taking care of our planet and the people who call it home. Many of our ethically sourced materials found in our eco-jewellery which we bring to Scotland come from a renewable and sustainable material known as Tagua, or Vegetable Ivory, the harvesting of which creates tens of thousands of jobs for South American residents who reside in the regions of Tropical Rainforest where the specific palm tree species that grow the material are found.

Our beautiful eco-jewellery is designed in Scotland by Ilana. She develops the initial design and prototype which is then passed on to our skilled artisans in Colombia and Ecuador. They have the expertise to bring her vision to life and create stunning statement pieces.

Ilana's designs are inspired by nature and the environment, and she is committed to ensuring that all materials used in the creation of her jewellery are sustainable and ethically sourced. In addition to using eco-friendly materials, Ilana and Amália also work closely with the artisans in South America to ensure that they are paid fairly and work in safe and comfortable conditions. By creating beautiful jewellery that is both ethical and environmentally conscious, Ilana and Amália hope to inspire others to make more conscious choices when it comes to the products they buy and the impact they have on the planet.

Ilana Ewing

Ilana has a creative soul, when she is not designing our eco-jewellery she is also an illustrator and Surface Pattern Designer, she loves her coffee and daily walks with her black cockapoo called Pepper.

Amália Wragg

Amalia Wragg Co-Founder of Pretty Pink

Amália loves adventure and she brought her adventurous spirit to Pretty Pink since joining the partnership in 2018. When Amália is not working at her computer you can find her swimming in the Scottish sea or paddleboarding , she has a weakness for chocolate and she also has a cockapoo called Lilly.

Meet the makers Ilana & Amalia

Illustration by Ilana Ewing

We at Pretty Pink believe in taking care of our planet and taking care of our people and you, our customers, make both these goals possible. Every purchase supports the ethical production of natural products from the Amazon rainforest, and the creation of jobs for entire families. Thank you.

Our Jewellery Brings Much-Needed Income to Communities in South America

We are pleased to announce that your support will now go even further. As the world faces off with the COVID-19 pandemic and its many social, emotional and economic impacts, it has become more important than ever to take care of our community — not only here at home, but throughout our supply chain. For this reason, we have decided to donate 10% of all profits, both during this pandemic and moving forward, to the employees who work for our suppliers in South America.

Meet the People who Harvest and Prepare the Vegetable Ivory

These are the workers who prepare the seeds used to make our beautiful jewellery. They polish them, dye them and drill the holes. Many of them are single mothers. And now, like so many people around the world, they cannot leave their homes and it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide for their families.

Thank you for supporting our movement for ethical, sustainable jewellery. Together, we can take care of our planet — and our people.

Our Team's Recent Visit to a Colombian Rainforest