Additional Information
| Materials | Tagua The Tagua nut comes from the Ecuadorean Ivory Palm, whose scientific name is Phytelephas aequatorialis or “plant elephant”, and which flourishes in the lowlands of South America. The tagua nut is collected from large pods emerging from the palm’s trunk. These regenerative pods can be harvested by climbing the tree or collected later once they fall to the forest floor. Harvested early, tagua is a soft fruit resembling the inner fruit of a coconut and can be eaten. Harvested later, tagua is white and extremely hard, and has come to be known as “vegetable ivory” because of its amazing ability to be carved and polished. Tagua is a perfect natural material for making beads, buttons, and figurines; before the age of plastic, tagua was used to produce large quantities of buttons for world markets. |
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| The Origin | Ecuador |
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The Andean Collection brings bold and inspiring design to fairly traded, eco-friendly products. The beautiful jewelry of the collection is made by Ecuadorian artisans from natural, local rain forest materials. This not only helps the artisans earn a living wage, but it also helps to protect the rain forest by creating a profitable and low impact use of its materials. The jewelry is stunningly beautiful in brilliant eye-grabbing colors and styles we just can't resist. |
