Scroll through Instagram for a few minutes and you will see the same promise again and again: waterproof jewellery. Shower in it, swim in it, never take it off. It sounds practical. But it is worth asking what that jewellery is actually made of, and why we at Atelier Té have chosen a very different path.
What is “waterproof jewellery”?
In most cases it is stainless steel, often with a thin coloured coating on top to make it look like silver or gold. Steel is cheap, hard and does not tarnish, which is why it can be sold at low prices and marketed as worry-free. There is nothing wrong with steel as a material. But it is not a precious metal, and a coating that imitates one is not the same thing as the metal itself.
We do not make steel jewellery and coat it in silver. When you buy a piece from us, it is silver all the way through.
Why silver is a precious metal
Silver has been treasured for thousands of years, used for coins, tableware and jewellery across almost every culture. It is called a precious metal because it is naturally rare, holds its value, and has a brightness and warmth no other white metal quite matches.
Our pieces are made in sterling silver (.925): 92.5% pure silver, alloyed with a small amount of other metal to make it strong enough to wear every day. It can be polished, repaired, resized and passed on. A sterling silver ring can be brought back to life decades from now. A worn-out coating cannot.
Yes, real silver can tarnish over time. That is a sign of the real thing, not a flaw, and it polishes off in seconds with a soft cloth.
Why we use recycled silver
Every piece of silver in our collection is recycled sterling silver. Silver can be melted down and refined again and again without losing any of its quality, so recycled silver is exactly as pure and beautiful as newly mined metal. Choosing it means less new mining and less impact on the land and water around mines, without compromising on the material.
For our gold pieces we use 18k gold vermeil: a thick layer of 18 karat gold over a sterling silver base. Our bangles and rings carry 8 microns of gold, far beyond what is needed to be called vermeil, so they are made to be worn, not just admired. (The silver base is recycled. The gold itself is not.)
Made slowly, by hand, in small batches
Each design is made by a small team of four master craftspeople in Bulgaria, in batches of fewer than ten pieces. Every piece is then finished, polished and, where relevant, gold-plated here in Switzerland. Our chains come from a German chain maker with more than a hundred years of history.
This way of working takes time, and it comes with a price. We are happy with that trade-off: we would rather make fewer pieces, made to last, than many pieces made to be replaced.
The space in the middle
Jewellery today is drifting to two extremes: fast, inexpensive pieces on one side, and very high-end solid gold on the other. The traditional craft in between, real precious metal shaped by skilled hands, is becoming rarer. We believe it is worth keeping alive.
That is what Atelier Té stands for: architectural jewellery in real, recycled silver and thick gold vermeil, made by hand and meant to stay with you for years.