‘Alohi Kai jewelry is all made by hand in the breezy mountains on O’ahu, Hawaii. We do make nearly everything by hand, but we do use some pre-made small findings; these are all purchased from US companies.
Jewelry: Since our jewelry is all designed and made by hand, we ensure the highest quality materials are used. Our jewelry is made from pure sterling silver (low tarnish .935 Argentium for fabrication, and low-tarnish sterling for castings), and fine silver. We also use 18K gold vermeil for a durable and beautiful non tarnish finish.
Findings: Our earwires are generally sterling silver or gold fill, with a few using titanium – this will be stated on the product page.
Stones: Most of our stones are natural, however on occasion we will use lab-created stones; these will always be clearly identified in the product description. We do include lab-created stones for their lower ecological impact, but also for their clarity and beauty! They are molecularly identical to a natural stone, only without the inclusions.
Shells: We do not ever use shells in our jewelry; our seashells are always made from metal. No creatures are harmed to make our products; if we use a shell to make a cast from, we exclusively use shells we find ourselves and can verify they are empty before use.
Leather, Silicone & Microfibre: We use leather for some of our necklaces. For vegans and people who don’t want leather, we also have 3mm silicone cord. We do not use plastic, and we are discontinuing microfiber since discovering they harm marine wildlife.
Fine silveris silver in its pure form, 99.9%. This is quite a soft and beautiful metal, but is too soft to use in jewelry. Jewelry and other items are usually made with sterling, which is much stronger due the mix of metals
Sterling silver is an alloy of metals, primarily consisting of fine silver. To qualify as sterling silver, the metal must be at least 92.5% fine/pure silver (hence the “.925” stamped on our jewelry). For most sterling the remainder is copper, which gives it strength on one hand, but also is the cause of tarnish. The silver we source is nearly entirely reclaimed/recycled.
Argentium is a beautiful kind of sterling silver, whiter and brighter in color, so closer to the color of fine silver. Its fine silver content is higher (.935) and has a bit of germanium added instead of all copper. The resulting metal gives us a lower tarnish, brighter colored sterling. It is trickier to work with and costs a shade more so not all jewellers use it. See our blog post for more information about silver. The other added benefit to using argentium is that it is always made from reclaimed silver.
At ‘Alohi Kai, we operate as ‘green’ as possible – we minimize chemicals and processes in our studio to be as friendly to the environment and sea as we can. There are many commercial cleansers on the market that appear to clean jewelry both quickly and effectively (like silver ‘dip’ and silver polish) – unfortunately, many of these can be harmful to the environment, the jewelry, as well as our customers, so we don’t use them.
Of course, we do have equipment to clean jewelry that you may not so here are a few tips for maintaining jewelry. But remember, wearing your jewelry is one of the easiest ways to keep tarnish at bay!
Note: If you have an ultrasonic cleaner, please be sure not to use it with pearls or soft stones such as opals or turquoise as you could damage the pearls/stones.
General Care
For precious metals, a few simple things can go a long way when you store jewelry.
- Store in tarnish-resistant cloth or bags
- Put anti-tarnish strips in with jewelry
- Store in air-tight and low-humidity environments
- Store pieces separately from each other so they don’t scratch – in cloth bags or individual compartments
- Get a polishing cloth to periodically clean jewelry
I heard from an upset customer once – she had been moving house and wore one of our handmade argentium chains while cleaning the new apartment, and the harsh chemicals ruined the finish on the silver. Be careful, contact with household chemicals or even food that contain substances such as chlorine or sulfur (e.g., mayonnaise, eggs, mustard, onions, latex, wool), will cause corrosion and tarnish. Some suggestions:
- Remove silver jewelry when doing household chores such as cleaning or cooking
- Direct sunlight causes silver to tarnish, so bear this in mind when you go swimming or out in the sun
- Humidity also contributes to tarnish, be sure to store jewelry in dry clean environments
- Put on jewelry *after* applying beauty products as these can encourage tarnish
- Don’t wear silver in chlorinated pools
Cleaning silver
For light cleaning, simply use a biodegradable dishwashing soap and warm water. Mix, then gently rub the piece with a soft cloth or soft toothbrush – make sure it’s a soft material or you could scratch the metal. You can also invest in an ultrasonic cleaner – especially good to get dirt out of crevices – or an ionic cleaner, which is the easiest way to get rid of tarnish!
There are many ways to clean silver around the internet, using baking soda, vinegar, even salt and aluminum foil.
We will clean your ‘Alohi Kai Jewelry free of charge if you like, just contact us to arrange mailing or pick up! (postage not included)
We are happy to discuss! We make our jewelry in sterling, with the option for thick 18K vermeil. For creating non-standard items, there may be a service charge for rose gold or rhodium plating if you request it. Should you want a solid gold or platinum piece (cast or chain maille), please contact us on phone or email for an estimate. The final price will always depend upon the market price of the requested metal.
At this time we do not work with base metals.
Yes we do, please contact us with any requests. However please note, out of respect for other designers' intellectual property, we will not copy their work.
A friendly note, please be aware that custom work will always require more labor than existing designs - it is not the less expensive option! A new piece of jewelry requires design, prototyping, carving, and only then casting, fabrication, finishing and polishing - many more hours than it takes to cast and finish an existing design.
Our jewelry designs come from our experiences underwater – they usually begin with a dive and taking underwater photos.
Once a design is conceived, sketches, mockups and prototypes are made so we are confident the jewelry will be both balanced and comfortable!
Our jewelry is made the “slow way” – we use a very hard kind of jewelry wax and carve or sculpt it to produce a master model. The master is carefully refined then cast in sterling silver. The master is destroyed in this process; if anything goes wrong, an entirely new carving must be made. Once the master casting is finished, it is ground, polished and in some cases, soldered/fabricated into its final form. We make a mold of it, and from this we can then make replicas. We do additional cleaning on each of these replicas, and also after casting in metal. Once cast, we grind, polish and finish the piece. If it includes gemstones, this is when they are set – stones are always the last thing to be done.
Some castings are used to fabricate jewelry like our link bracelets, others are polished and finished as the final piece, like our shark pendants.
We will ship to most places, please contact us with requests. Please also read our shipping policies – these will apply to all places we ship to.
Gift Packaging: Sending a gift? We’ll include a hand-written note from you – just tell us what you want it to say in the Order Notes when you check out, or contact us here with a description of your order. Your gift will arrive gift wrapped/boxed and ready for them to open! Our invoices are sent to you on email so you never have to worry about them seeing your receipt.
Packaging: We try to be conscientious of the waste we produce, so all packaging from basic to luxe is made from recycled and/or natural products and/or is re-usable (linen or cotton bags, wood or woven lauhala boxes, recyclable and recycled paper boxes) and shipped with consideration to the least waste possible. We will make every effort to ensure your piece is protected – without killing any additional trees.
We usually ship in a recyclable cardboard box or compostable mailer. We are pleased to share with you that our branded mailers are not only made with the highest % of recycled pulp allowed, they are beautiful enough to use again. Our branded tissue paper also comes from sustainably managed forests and are printed with soy-based, eco-friendly inks. Any filler products such as packing peanuts you find in your package are reused from what our suppliers send us. And our plastic mailers are compostable at home.
Plastics: Our bubble wrap and some bags are re-used but never purchased, our purchased plastics are biodegradable. Our plastic mailer envelopes are compostable.
Vermeil is a legally regulated term in the US, it is not just "plating" - gold plate can often rub off and be 1/100 the thickness of vermeil. The US Code of Federal Regulations (16, Part 23.5) defines Vermeil: “A product may be described or marked as ‘vermeil’ if it consists of a base of sterling silver coated or plated on all significant surfaces with gold or gold alloy of not less than 10 karat fineness, that is of substantial thickness and a minimum thickness throughout equivalent to two and one half (2½) microns.
What does that all mean?
- Unlike gold fill, vermeil jewelry *must* start as a sterling silver piece before plating. Gold fill is not only a different process of adhering gold, it can have any metal as its base (e.g. brass or other non-precious/base metal with a layer of gold)
- The gold must be a specified thickness. 2.5 microns of gold over the silver is much thicker gold than standard plating. Some plating is as thin as 1 micro inch, so standard vermeil is at least 100x thicker than a thin plating of gold. Ours is thicker than 2.5 microns.
- Also the gold cannot be less than 10K. Our vermeil is 18K vermeil to ensure its a rich deep gold color.
Wrist measurements: For custom bracelets such as a barbless circle hook bracelet, we will need your actual wrist size. The easiest way to do it is to use a tape measure. Take the measurement right where the overlap happens, that is your wrist size! We will size the bracelet to fit you. However, for bracelets that come in set sizes, such as the Zoanthid link bracelets, we give you the length, and you determine which you prefer – again, we recommend a tape measure. Just measure your wrist and note the difference between the length. As a general rule, an additional +1/2″ would be a close fitting but not tight bracelet, while +1″ is the usual loose bracelet sizes you see.
Ring measurements: You’ve probably seen ring sizers. But what you many not realize is that there is a lot of variation between different ring sizers! The only way to get the right fit is if the jeweler and the customer use the same set of measuring tools. So the safest way to send us your ring size is to measure your finger in millimetres. One easy way is to use dental floss, mark the overlap, then measure the length. Make sure you measure the largest part of your finger too! Low-tech, but it works. And do be sure not to make the mistake of leaving a gap ‘so its not tight’ – we make the ring to fit the size you give us, if you leave a gap, it will be too big!
Necklace measurements: Necklace lengths are really a personal preference. Please to check what length you prefer on yourself! Generally speaking, 16″ is a choker, 18-20″ are necklaces, and 30-36″ are long. But this can vary greatly by your size and bone structure. Our standard lengths are 16″ 18″ and 32″, but we can often accommodate 20″ – 36″ on some chains if you prefer. For longer chains, there may be a surcharge.
Custom necklaces – as with rings, if we are making a custom necklace and ask for your neck measurement, use a tape measure and give us your actual neck measurement.
Our pieces are all sculpted/carved or fabricated without the benefit of computers. In other words, they are made by hand. Most large jewelry and chain stores make their jewelry with the help of CAD – computer-aided design – this is fairly standard in diamond rings from high-street stores for example. They model a design on the computer and print a form to be cast, or in some cases print the actual jewelry! This speeds up the production, and lowers costs. High end fine jewelry is often crafted entirely by hand (and magic in our opinion!). We don’t believe any of these are good or bad, just different kinds of jewelry.
We choose to do things the ‘slow’ way, hand-carving and sculpting our pieces for casting or fabricating with saw and flame. Since there is no computer file, a smaller or bigger design requires an entirely new carving. Please note, this is different from a ring or necklace or bracelet size, which we are generally able to re-size. But if you really do love something that is the wrong dimension for you, talk to us about a custom piece, or, if this is out of your budget, tell us anyway! We listen to our customers and your wish may be next season’s new item.
Indeed, you may get something similar, cheaper, and if that is your main criteria you should get it there. But please note, any similarities are an anomaly - we do not copy mass produced designs, and our work is all done in-house. Most importantly our designs are unique to us and only derivative of the ocean. This is a different kind of jewelry from that produced in a factory or in a computer, and our price reflects these differences.
We pride ourselves in creating designs for those in love with the ocean, so our work is not for everyone. We create for people who want the feel of something crafted by hand not a computer. We create for people who regret today's overconsumption, who want to simplify and wear only things they love. And we create for water people - those who want to protect the ocean and all she gives us, or who seek something that reveals their oceanic soul. If this is not you, then the Amazon item may be a better choice.
Influenced by the ‘Slow Food’ movement, the term “Slow Fashion” was coined by Kate Fletcher, from the Centre for Sustainable Fashion. It stands for a more conscientious way of both producing and consuming goods, inviting conversation from all aspects of production on how we can do better.
“The fashion industry is contributing to today’s sustainability challenge in a number of ways. It currently uses a constant flow of natural resources to produce ‘Fast Fashion’ garments. In the way it operates, this industry is constantly contributing to the depletion of fossil fuels, used, for example, in textile & garment production and transportation. Fresh water reservoirs are also being increasingly diminished for cotton crop irrigation. The fashion industry is also introducing in a systematic way, and in ever-greater amounts, manmade compounds such as pesticides and synthetic fibres, which increases their persistent presence in nature. As a result, some natural resources are in jeopardy and forests and ecosystems are being damaged or destroyed for such things as fibre production, leading to issues such as droughts, desertification and not least, climate change, that are affecting society at large.” – Not Just a Label
Slow Fashion tries to claw back a bit of what we have lost, an attempt to rebalance and find the ‘right’ pace, and create connections lost in today’s faster world.
“Slow Fashion is the movement of designing, creating, and buying … for quality and longevity. Slow fashion encourages slower production schedules, fair wages, lower carbon footprints, and (ideally) zero waste.” – Study New York
Our Slow Fashion Values
There are too many related areas to cover exhaustively here, but among other things, we believe in
- seeing connections – how our actions affect others (sustainability, non-toxic processes)
- reducing consumption – purchase better quality less frequently, discard less
- respecting all people – support living wages, respect peoples’ rights
- recognising the humanity in what we make – tell stories behind products, understand who makes them and why
- building relationships, not just a businesses
- innovating and using local materials when possible – reduce carbon footprints
- preserving quality and beauty via timeless and solid design, not passing trends
- recognising the need for profitability – quality and conscientiousness won’t come cheaply, and producers must make a living to continue to offer these products.
At ‘Alohi Kai we’re fans of slow fashion; quality is more important than quantity to us. We make things in small batches, ensuring they are done right so they last a very long time. We design from the sea, not from the current season or other designers. And our ambition is that you are delighted with your jewelry not just at purchase, but every time you wear our products. We stand by our work. We don’t cut corners on production and use high quality raw materials like Argentium sterling and 18K gold. And our designs are timeless; we believe that beauty and quality don’t go out of fashion.
But its not all about the look for us either. To us slow fashion also means using re-usable packaging, eco-friendly processes, biodegradable plastic bags, and sustainably produced metals. We source metal carefully and try to use recycled silver as much as possible. We also reuse the plastic bubble wrap that is sent to us and don’t purchase it ourselves. Generally, we really try to think about how we do things and how they impact other people and the environment.
Slow Fashion is not about ending consumption or business (that would be bad news for us!), nor about substituting inferior things for what we have now. Slow Fashion, like Slow Food, is instead about awareness, reflection and prioritisation. Its a good time to rebalance, and savour what we have; in the process we can help to ensure there is some left for the next generation.