Ethical Jewellery - How is it handmade?
Read more about the making of the Hewa necklace. A Lala favourite, the Hewa is made up of a hand beaten circular pendant and ball. She is crafted out of fully recycled brass in the green lands surrounding Nairobi, Kenya. From scrap…. to jewellery.
Stage 1: The first stage of the process is to shape the pendant. We start by making a wooden mould which is placed in a steel case and then surrounded by a combination of molasses and a very soft sand from the bed of the River Sagana, about 100km north of Nairobi.
Stage 2: The case is heated over a wood fire until the sand and molasses have hardened, forming a solid mould.
Stage 3: The next stage in making the necklace is to source the brass to fill the mould. All of our brass is sourced from sustainable scrap brass, such as padlocks, keys and pipework. The scrap metal is melted down in a forge that sits in a well ventilated room, allowing plenty of air flow.
Stage 4: After reaching a liquid state, the molten brass is poured into the mould and allowed to cool.
Once fully cool, the brass is removed from the mould, revealing the basis of the circular pendant, ready to be finished by hand.
The rough pendants are now smoothed, trimmed, polished and finally hammered by hand, producing the gently dimpled finish that is a signature of the Hewa necklace. Once the ball has been smoothed and a thread drilled through it, the necklace is ready to be assembled.
And here she is…. the Hewa Necklace.
