Incador Jewellery on the French news: from old electronics to fine jewellery
Being interviewed by one of the world’s leading news agencies, AFP (Agence France-Presse), definitely wasn’t something we expected when we first started Incador Jewellery!
This summer, we were invited to take part in a report by AFP exploring the growing movement around recovering gold from electronic waste and transforming it into fine jewellery. The report took them to The Royal Mint, where end-of-life electronics are dismantled and processed to recover the precious metals hidden inside them, before bringing the story to London to speak to us about how we’re using tech-derived recycled gold at Incador.
For us, it was a chance to talk about something that has been at the heart of Incador from day one: the idea that the materials we need to create beautiful, lasting jewellery can already exist around us, even in something as ordinary as an old phone or laptop.
The report follows the journey of electronic waste through the recycling process, from old devices being dismantled and sorted to the recovery of the tiny amounts of gold contained within them. Once recovered and refined, that gold can be brought back into circulation at the same purity and quality as newly mined gold, ready to begin a completely different life.
At Incador, we use 18ct recycled gold recovered from end-of-life electronics to create our fine jewellery here in London. There’s something we’ve always loved about that contrast: taking gold from technology that might have been used for only a few years and turning it into a piece of jewellery that can be treasured for generations.
One of the things we spoke about during our AFP interview was how much this resonates with our clients. Around three quarters of our clientele love the idea of recycled gold and increasingly want the jewellery they choose to reflect their values too. For pieces that often mark some of the most important moments in our lives, knowing the story behind the materials can make them feel even more meaningful.
The growing problem of electronic waste
Electronic waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world. In 2022 alone, 62 million tonnes of e-waste were generated globally, yet only a fraction was formally documented as being properly collected and recycled.
As our relationship with technology continues to grow, we think the conversation around what happens to our devices once we’re finished with them needs to grow with it. We’ve become increasingly conscious of the impact of fast fashion, but fast tech could very easily become the next fast fashion, with phones, laptops and other electronics constantly replaced while valuable materials inside them are left untapped.
For us, circularity offers a different way of looking at those materials. Gold doesn’t stop being valuable because the device containing it has reached the end of its life. It can be recovered, refined and used again and again.
From Tech for Treasure to fine jewellery
That same thinking sits behind our Tech for Treasure™ initiative, through which we collect unwanted electronics and work with specialist recycling partners to help recover the valuable materials inside them. It’s our way of bringing the story full circle and allowing people to become part of the process themselves.
Seeing AFP shine a light on electronic waste and the possibilities of tech-derived recycled gold felt like a real milestone, particularly to see Incador recognised as part of a growing movement within fine jewellery.
When we started Incador, the idea of turning old electronics into fine jewellery still surprised almost everyone we spoke to. It still surprises plenty of people now, but perhaps a little less than it used to, and we think that’s a very good thing.
Watch the AFP report
You can watch the AFP report here to see inside the recycling process at The Royal Mint and hear a little more from us about why we believe recycled gold has such an exciting future in fine jewellery.