Materials & Sustainability

Materials:

• Alysian jewelry and Alysian lifestyle accessories and accent products feature semiprecious gemstones and sometimes incorporate glass accents. Metal elements are largely non precious.

• We use a mix of metals, but predominantly stainless steel, plated base metals and raw brass. Raw brass is brass without any plating. It is an alloy made of copper and zinc (and is lead and nickel free.) The proportions of its composition can vary. More zinc can give the brass a yellower gold tone while a higher zinc content can give brass a warmer reddish-gold hue. 

• Earring wires and posts are largely hypoallergenic. Most silver tone earring wires are surgical grade stainless steel. Gold tone earring wires are mostly gold plated stainless steel/gold tone surgical steel or (nickel-free) raw brass. 

• Keep in mind that semiprecious stones are natural and no two are the same. All the stones used in Alysian jewelry (and accessories/home accents) are hand picked for our designs. Stones will have subtle color and shape differences and natural variations, flaws or inclusions — this is innate to natural materials and what makes these semiprecious gemstones uniquely special! (Natural variations also apply to our wood accent pieces.) If a particular stone varies a substantial degree, this is stated in the product description and accompanied by visual images that show an example of range. Additionally, due to our pieces being handcrafted, please note that all measurements are approximate.

• Also note: You can expect that the vintage metals we source and incorporate into our designs have developed a natural patina (the surface darkens due to oxidation) and may show very slight imperfections due to age.

Please visit individual product pages for specific details on the materials used in each piece of handcrafted jewelry and accessories.

Please Note:

• We encourage you to read the full details and view all accompanying photographs before making your purchase. We try to include as many details and visual references as possible for each design. We understand that purchasing jewelry and accessories online is a different experience than when selecting a piece in-person, and want you to feel informed, confident and excited about what you are selecting from our site. 

• While they may be part of the same collection, each Alysian piece of jewelry is designed as stand-alone item. They are not designed to precisely match as sets. Should you be interested in coordinating items and are unsure if metal plating, colors, etc. would match, please feel free to contact us for confirmation or guidance.

• Should you have any concerns or questions about a product, please email us at alysian@alysiandesigns.com before purchasing and we will get back to you promptly.

• Refer to our Jewelry Care page for detailed instructions on how to care for your Alysian jewelry. 

Sustainability Practices:

• Vintage Elements: Some Alysian designs include vintage metal components and/or chain. We are increasingly sourcing and designing with unused vintage materials from jewelry manufacturers (known as "deadstock"), that would have otherwise gone into a landfill. This is noted within each product listing when applicable. These designs also come with a "Vintage Elements" tag as well.

• Sustainable Wood: All of our trinket trays are hand-carved from Acacia, a highly renewable wood source.

• Packaging: Every item (other than "Last Chance" items, which are protected in tissue) purchased on this site is sent in an individual Alysian reusable fabric pouch that is perfect for storage and gift giving! Items are packed securely in a strong, yet lightweight, corrugated cardboard box. Our boxes, honeycomb packing paper, and even our packaging tape (made from paper) are all recyclable. Our tissue paper is compostable. We try to minimize packaging materials used and avoid using plastic. If shipping a larger order that warrants more padding, we may—reuse bubble wrap packaging materials for extra protection.

• Small Batch Production & Waste Reduction: All items are designed and handcrafted in-house, in very small quantities, and we only produce more when prompted by consumer demand. By only utilizing materials as needed, we make less waste. To further our efforts to lessen the  environmental impact of our production process, we then take excess raw materials to create our one-of-a-kind designs.