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About Kerstin Laibach

Kerstin Laibach grew up up in a beautiful part of the world that is renowned for hand-crafted jewellery of exceptional quality. Rising east from the French / German Rhine valley are the higher mountains of the Black Forest, sweeping south towards the Swiss Alps, and it's here, between Pforzheim and Basel, Switzerland where she learnt her trade as a goldsmith to the most exacting standards.
This began with a three and a half year apprenticeship near Basel, followed by some years as a designer and restorer in Freiburg, Germany where she fine-tuned her skills creating bespoke pieces, while also restoring antique jewellery.

By 2008 Kerstin's growing concern about environmental issues began to illuminate a sense of distrust about aspects of the jewellery industry. The lack of moral responsibility within its practices, combined with ethical pretense on the surface, weighed on her conscience.
She decided then that the responsible way forward was to go it alone; offering goldsmith standard, bespoke pieces - but made with faithfully laid out environmental principles.
"There will always be room for improvement while the world continues to mine, displace habitats and cause animal suffering just for the sake of vanity," says Kerstin, "but by strictly avoiding cruelty, environmental damage and mined materials, at least I could run my own business responding to customer questions with clear honesty instead of abstract or greenwashing answers ... which is becoming more common place within the jewellery trade".

During the preparation time in setting up the business, Atelier Laibach trod carefully through lists of suppliers and services Kerstin would need for her business, seeking out the tiny handful of genuinely ethical businesses and organisations that might be relied on for truly recycled / earth and animal friendly materials and carbon neutral services. The business also established what effective wildlife and conservation organisations it would donate a percentage of sales to.
"In March 2009 the business was launched with immense moral support from my dear partner, says Kerstin. "It is impossible to please everyone, but we do take pride in aiming to explain everything that the customer wishes to know about our ecological approach. I strive to ensure that my work meets the ethical wishes of the most meticulous vegan or environmentally astute customer, meaning that Atelier Laibach pieces can be enjoyed by everybody of all dietary or ethical preferences".

"Having formerly worked with priceless gems, I am often asked what now inspires me to create pieces from simple stones. Beside the positive environmental approach to making pieces with surface gathered stones I find myself automatically gravitating towards pebbles shaped over time by nature and which humans have not manipulated. The form of an uncut, unpolished stone is like a memory chip; an imprint of the earths' natural motion over millions of years. This must be why pebbles can feel so natural in your hands and why they give such a "feel-good" sense when I have set them into jewellery without adversely changing their structure. To be able to wear and therefore connect with an ancient, elementary fragment of our world is a rare thing in an age when everything else around us so manipulated and modified by humans. Even with the "architectural" collections, I like to use the shapes and lines of natural stones to determine the structure that surrounds them. It's a miniaturized approach to how artistic forms sculptured by nature and manmade art in architecture can harmonize."

Kerstin's principles are purely inspired by the ethical philosophy of www.Looking-Glass.co.uk and its sister site www.veggieglobal.com. "I am proud to be associated with this respected nonprofit web resource. Looking-Glass have researched extensively to determine ecological factuality within the jewellery trade and to establish a more truthful perspective of what can be termed as ethical jewellery."

Atelier Laibach sincerely hopes that you will find the result of Kerstin's efforts worthwhile, and that you will find the ethical jewellery piece that may help bring you peace and harmony for a lifetime.

MORE INFORMATION ...

Atelier Laibach Principles - A Slow, Holistic Approach
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