- Handmade using Sterling Silver and Labradorite (which shines much like the real beetle's bright green, iridescent shell)
- Comes with a choice of silver chain: 16'', 18'' or 32''
- 925 Sterling Silver with labradorite detail
- Part of our Hibernation collection: Intricately cast pieces taken from specimens found in nature
- Foraged or discovered in antique entomology displays; these found dead beetles, animal bones and other objects, are given new life when made in to a mould and casted in to silver and brass
- Please check images for measurements
- Also available in brass
We donate. You choose.
At Forage, we care deeply about the impact we are able to have, not only with our makers and producers, but with our wider community and the environment around us.
Businesses are in a unique position where they can make meaningful choices; how to spend our money, where to source our products, and the messages we put into the world.
We know that the values of our business align beautifully with those of our customers. We believe that, together, we can make a powerful difference.
With every Forage product you buy on our website, we will donate £1 to charity. We have formed partnerships with two wonderful charities, World Land Trust, and Goods for Good. Our donations will go directly to specific campaigns, and we give our customers the choice of which worthy cause they would like to support with each purchase they make.
When you add a Forage product to your basket, you will be given the option to choose which charity you would like us to donate to. The more products bought, the more donations we can make.
About our chosen charities
World Land Trust
“World Land Trust (WLT) works with local NGO partners around the world to save and protect critically threatened habitat for wildlife. Since 1989, through the generosity of WLT supporters, WLT has funded the purchase and protection of more than 774,000 acres of tropical forest and other threatened habitats, and along with WLT partners ensures that more than 4 million acres of land is managed under active protection worldwide.”
Our World Land Trust donations will go directly to the Buy an Acre scheme, where £100 is used to purchase and protect an acre of woodland or rainforest.
Each pound we donate will be used to purchase 40m² of wildlife rich habitat!
Every acre purchased will become part of a larger reserve, protecting it from being cleared for agriculture and cattle, and will be patrolled by rangers that can deter and detect poachers, illegal logging and fires.
Find out more about the Buy and Acre scheme.
Goods for Good
UPDATE:
Goods For Good, like many charities and businesses, is adapting to the Government guidelines for the global pandemic of Covid-19. Currently they have limited our community outreach to involve fewer volunteers. However, that has not stopped their desire to help people during this pandemic. They have recently responded to SOS’s from homeless organisations and provided new sleeping bags, shoes and clothing. These people are probably the most vulnerable.
Whilst our global work has been restricted, we will be working locally to help more people at this unprecedented time. There are thousands of families that the pandemic will affect due to shortages of essential goods, job losses, time off work due to illness and inflation. We will mobilise our local connections and partners to reach these people who will be struggling to cope.
“Goods For Good sends goods donated by generous businesses and individuals in the UK to vulnerable communities living around the world.
It’s a sad reality that millions of people beset by poverty, tragedy or disaster live without basic goods such as clothing, medicines, blankets or hygiene products. Goods For Good sources and delivers large quantities of these basic goods to pre-identified communities in need. In other words, we take essential items that aren’t needed in the UK and send them where they are needed.”
Goods for Good save overproduced highstreet items from being sent to landfill or being incinerated and redistribute them to refugees and vulnerable people worldwide.
Our donations to Goods for Good will go directly into logistics. Each truck of aid they send costs £5,000 on average. The value of the goods on the truck, however, will be worth a minimum of £75,000.
That means, for every pound that is donated, they are able to multiply it by 15. Every £1 donated from a Forage product will transport at least £15 worth of goods, saving them from being destroyed, and sending them to the people who need it most.
Find out more about Goods for Good.
Making positive changes
We live in a world where the need for sustainability is becoming more and more urgent every day. It is easy to look at ourselves and see all the things we are not doing perfectly, but if we can commit to making positive changes, however small, as often as possible, we can play our part in being part of the solution.
We aim to ship within 2 - 3 working days of receiving your order, though on rare occasion it may take up to 5 days.
Usually items shipped overseas arrive within 7 - 10 days or quicker, but on rare occasions it can take up to a month. We believe this depends on the postage service in the destination country.
If you are not 100% satisfied, you may return your order within 21 days of the date printed on the dispatch note.
You must contact us by email or telephone within 7 days of receiving the item to arrange the return.
return postage and packaging is at the cost of the customer. You must retain a proof of postage receipt. We cannot take responsibility for items which fail to reach us or are insufficiently packaged.
We are happy to refund or exchange products returned to us as long as they are in an unworn and fully re-sellable condition. We reserve the right to refuse refund should the item appear to be used.
We also reserve the right to deduct postage costs incurred in sending the item to you (for UK customers) and any additional postage costs incurred in sending the item to you (for non-UK customers).
We can only offer refunds for items bought online, for non-internet sales we can offer exchanges or credit note.
Should an item appear to be faulty please contact us within 21 days to let us us know, we cannot accept returns on items that have been heavily worn.
EU Customers have additional rights. To read, cut and paste the following link
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_rights/consumer_rights_directive/index_en.htm
Silver Jewellery
Our silver jewellery is all sterling silver at 92.5% or more. All our jewellery in nickel free.
Silver can tarnish over time; this can be avoided simply by wearing the jewellery regularly! If your jewellery should tarnish, please use a silver polishing cloth to clean it. Should it tarnish heavily (prolonged exposure to salt water for example can cause this) you can use a dip, (Avoid doing this with items with stones set in them as it can damage the setting.) A great trick is to use regular washing powder that you wash your clothes with, add a little water to form a paste, then scrub with a soft toothbrush! it works wonders!!
Brass jewellery
Craftsmen have been working with brass since prehistoric times, and jewellery made from this warm bright, glowing metal has been popular throughout the ages.
Brass is a mix of copper and zinc, both believed to have health benefits when worn. It is antibacterial, and is thought to aid with circulation. The use of brass and copper jewellery for medical purposes is becoming increasingly popular as a natural alternative treatment to help alleviate pain and increase the body's natural healing response. Brass is also suitable for most people with metal allergies.
Spiritually, brass is associated with protection, luck, wealth, creativity and confidence
Caring for your brass jewellery
Like silver, brass can tarnish over time, particularly when unworn. This can be combated by simply wearing the jewellery. Alternatively, using a polishing cloth or jewellery dip (as with silver) can give fantastic results.
As brass contains copper, you may experience a slight staining of the skin; this is a natural process and is completely harmless. It can be avoided by keeping the skin dry, and by keeping the jewellery clean. A thin layer of clear nail varnish painted on the inside of the piece will also prevent the staining.
Wood & Organic jewellery
Many of our designs involve fusions of silver or brass with wood, and other organic materials such as water buffalo horn and camel bone. Please do not wear these pieces in the shower/ bath/ sauna/ hot tub etc. moisture can make wood swell, dislodging it from its fixing in the metal.
Thread through Earrings
When we first started out, our thread through silver collection were our signature pieces. Steering clear of the classic earring -and-hook design, we preferred to make pieces of jewellery which were more like mini sculptures and threaded right through the ear piercing. This collection was made in Silver, and often fused silver & wood, brass and copper together.
While they are not intended to be used as stretchers, some of our thread through earrings are quite chunky. Part of the beauty of these designs is the heavy nature of them, so they may not be suitable for people with very tiny earring holes, or those who have only recently got their ears pierced.
In our experience, if you have had your ears pierced for several years, and especially if you are used to wearing heavy or dangly earrings, they will be absolutely fine. In each listing we have included the gauge in mm for you to get an idea.
If you feel that the hole is a little tight, we recommend applying a little olive oil to the piercing hole, and to the earring and gently and slowly threading it it. please do not force the earring through, this will only damage the piercing, causing it to swell or bleed, which can lead to irritation or infection, after which you definitely wont be able to wear the piece for a while! if it feels sore leave it till its calmed down, and try again later. a hot shower can really help by softening the skin.
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Belts
We have spent years developing our unique belt designs with durability in mind. Both Leather and cotton canvas can stretch, and we found that were not satisfied with the traditional approach to fastening a belt using a buckle and eyelets, as over time the eyelets will inevitably stretch and pop out.
Our clip and ring design means that our belts are fully adjustable and contain no eyelets at all. And all weight-`bearing points on the belts are reinforced with rivets as well as stitching. Should the dog hook ever fail, get in touch and we'll send you a new one absolutely free! (It is easy to take the old one off and thread a new one on.)
Leather
leather is a natural material. Colours and textures of hide can vary from one piece to another. This is normal and should be expected. Each item is unique
.
To clean the leather, try brushing any marks off gently with a soft brush, or running a damp cloth over the hide. Never submerge your leather items completely in water to wash them.
Should you have heavy staining (for example if the leather is left wet, some staining can develop on it) a good tick to try is using Vaseline: take a clean sponge or cloth and dip it in your Vaseline, then rub in small circular motions over the whole piece.
Please note that this will change the appearance of the leather; it will become a darker colour, and a little shinier - especially noticeable on some of our soft Nubuck pieces. so this method must be applied to the whole piece so that it matches, and should be used as a last resort.
Please do not overfill the pockets, this can put strain on the stitching and the zips.
Cotton
To clean we recommend brushing the belts down with a soft brush or damp cloth. The rivets and buckles love staying dry, so only hand-wash if completely necessary.
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Clothing
washing instructions- to preserve the vibrancy of colours in our clothing, we recommend hand washing in cool water with similar colours. Do not tumble dry. Lace and fringing are delicate and must be treated with care.
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Amber Resin
The first time i went to India, i fell in love with Amber Resin, and everyone i hugged when i returned home said the same thing - Wow - you smell Goooood!!!
Beautiful, aromatic, exotic amber!! we LOVE this stuff! used as a room or a perfume, this unisex fragrance is ts famously known to be an aphrodisiac!
Our amber resin is made in India, using traditional methods. It is made using resins and tree saps, and essential oils.
Essential oils in their pure form can be too strong to apply directly to the skin, For people with sensitive skin, this can apply to amber too. While some people have no problem, others can experience some reactions to the oils. (We always recommend a heath test on your skin to see whether you are sensitive to amber.)
Amber does not have to be applied directly to the skin,however. It can be rubbed in to hair or clothing, added to oil in an oil burner, or simply left open in a room or drawer - we have even known people to dissolve it in water and use it as a spray. Personally my skin doesn't react the amber, so i just cover myself in it - bring it on!
Amber should be stored in an airtight container, or it can dry out over time and lose its fragrance. Stored in a container it will last indefinitely, and as you only ever need to use a few small crumbs, a small piece could last you a very long time!
