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Nes Jewels takes away the eco-guilt of that chic Nespresso coffee fix by crafting the colourful used pods into funky jewellery under the name of Nes Jewels. Sibongile Phiri tells us about the jewellery that she creates together with business partner, Marc Dennler.
I went with jewellery because that is what comes naturally to me. I’m not a jeweller but I like jewellery. I studied fine art, that is my background.
The guy that I’m doing this with now, Marc, started this with his mum. He approached me to sell for them at one of my markets. When I saw the response I thought we could turn this into a good business. We’ve been working together now for 2 years. He has access to the pods from a recycling plant.
We each have our own designs and we sell together. His designs are classic using the crushed pods. My designs are more edgy and, I think, younger. I work in detail shaping the pods with an edgy style. I taught myself the scalloping from an online tutorial and then came up with my own designs.
One thing I like is that Nespresso is itself an upmarket brand. They market with colour, which is nice to work with. It’s a powder coated colouring which is food-safe, so the colour stays on and is safe to wear.
The other big thing is saving the pods from landfill. It is good coffee and we could all do with good coffee, so if we can find a way to make it work for all of us… that’s another reason I took on the project, I’m quite eco-conscious, I like natural things, so I’m proud to be working with this and helping the environment.
See Nes Jewels for yourself at the Craft Market at Spier. We’re open every day until the end of April. Regular trading hours are 10h00 -17h30, extended until 18h30/19h00 over the Christmas and New Year holiday season.
https://www.facebook.com/Nesjewels
