McFarlandDesigns

Ethical Gemstone & Moissanite Rings in Recycled Metals

Eureka, California
2,873 Sales | 5 out of 5 stars 5 out of 5 stars

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Announcement    ***PERMANENTLY CLOSED *** My Etsy shop is only open to liquidate in-stock rings. I do not have capacity to respond to other inquiries. All sales are final.

Announcement

Last updated on Sep 9, 2021

***PERMANENTLY CLOSED *** My Etsy shop is only open to liquidate in-stock rings. I do not have capacity to respond to other inquiries. All sales are final.

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Tamara McFarland

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Tamara McFarland

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About McFarlandDesigns

Sales 2,873
On Etsy since 2006
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Welcome to McFarland Designs, your source for beautiful custom jewelry in alignment with your values.

Recycled metals and ethically sourced gemstones are skillfully combined to create wearable works of art that you can truly feel good about, confident that their creation did not exploit workers or the environment. Specializing in sustainable, eco-friendly wedding rings. Made by hand with love.

In all that I do, I strive to minimize harm to people, animals, and the environment, and to leave the world a better place than I found it.

I use 100% recycled Harmony Metals and ethically sourced gemstones in my designs. I realize that the terms ‘ethical’ and ‘fair trade’ are somewhat subjective at this moment in time in the jewelry industry, as there are no established guidelines yet for fair trade metal and gemstone mining; therefore, I believe that the best way for me to be true to my ethical intentions is to offer complete transparency to my customers. I pass along to you every bit of information I can find about the origins of my materials, so that you can make your own fully informed judgments and decisions.

Please check out my Hoover & Strong page to learn more about where my metals come from - http://www.mcfarlanddesigns.com/hooverandstrong.htm

The situation with gemstones is a bit more complicated. Everyone has different ideas about what the best ways are to protect workers and the environment, and as with many other ethical conundrums, it can be tough to know what the right decision is. While I am always open to considering other perspectives, here’s what I’m comfortable with right now – (1) lab-created stones, (2) stones that are mined and cut in the US, and (3) stones obtained from outside the US through channels that can be verified to be promoting environmental health, worker safety, and local communities.

Lab created stones are, to me, a no-brainer. I’m not talking about fakes (no cubic zirconia for me, thanks) – lab created stones, also called synthetic, cultured, or man-made, are physically identical to their mined counterparts. Just as gemstones are formed in nature through heat and other forces within the earth, man-made stones are cultivated through applying similar forces within a laboratory, resulting in a stone that is optically and molecularly identical to a mined stone. Lab created stones’ main impact on the environment is in the power used to run the laboratory, an amount far less impactful than what is incurred with traditional gem mining.

I also like to work with stones that are mined and cut here in the United States; that way I can be assured that US laws about workers’ rights and environmental protection have been observed. (Yes, I know that our environmental protection laws leave much to be desired, but it’s something.)

There is only one company that I know of currently working to supply jewelers with verifiably fair trade stones from outside the US, and that is Columbia Gem House (CGH). Please click here to read more about CGH's commitment to fair trade - http://www.mcfarlanddesigns.com/cgh.htm - CGH has ranked the stones that they offer into four fair trade categories - http://www.mcfarlanddesigns.com/cghfairtrade.pdf - at this time, I have chosen to work with stones from categories one and two.

Wherever possible, I make decisions in my studio that take into account the environment and my commitment to conservation and animal rights. I use recycled office paper, ship my jewelry in boxes made from recycled materials when possible (although I have yet to locate a good source for clamshell-style jewelry boxes from recycled materials), and I ship all orders in gently used bubble mailers that I obtain from a local radio station.

Each month, I donate 5% of my gross sales to a different charity. These are often animal-related causes, since these are some of the nearest and dearest to my heart, but I've also featured international women's rights groups, children's health organizations (only those that don't test on animals, of course), marriage equality efforts, and more. I consider this to be an integral part of my business, and a way to bring more meaning to my work, and to the jewelry I sell.

Interested in learning more or requesting a custom made item? More helpful tidbits here - http://www.mcfarlanddesigns.com/ethical-custom-jewelry.htm

Thanks for caring!

xoxo

Tamara

Shop members

  • Tamara McFarland

    Owner, Creator, Designer

Shop policies

More information

Last updated on May 11, 2022
Frequently asked questions
What is your return policy?

I accept returns/exchanges; please contact me within 14 days of receiving your order, and be sure the return is made within 30 days.

For in-stock items, I do offer full refunds (less shipping), within the time frame described above.

For made-to-order items (this includes all rings that are made to order in the size you specify), a 25% re-stocking fee does apply. This is due to the difficulty in re-selling a specific design in a specific size.

If there is anything I can do to help minimize the chance of a return being necessary (such as sending ring blanks to confirm size, or even sending a sample ring from my in-stock selection to assist with your decision), please reach out.

Do you have any advice for determining ring size?

To be sure that you order the correct size, I suggest stopping in at a local jewelry shop to have your finger sized.

Be aware that wider ring bands may tend to feel snugger than narrow bands, so if you’re going to order a wide band, ask your local jeweler to use a wide band sizer.

If you're trying to surprise someone with a ring and you need help guessing his/her ring size, check out these helpful tips - http://groomsadvice.com/2010/02/08/how-to-secretely-find-her-engagement-ring-size/ (please excuse the hetero-normative wording).

Can you re-size my ring?

Some designs are easy to re-size, while others are impossible to re-size.

If it's important to you that you are able to size your ring up or down, either right away because you're unsure of the size you need, or down the road to account for weight gain/loss, pregnancy, etc., please touch base with me about that before deciding on a design.

Bands that have one metal type layered on top of another metal are very difficult, if not impossible, to size up more than perhaps a half size, and can be sized down, but will likely have a visible solder seam in case of downsizing.

Since repair work is not my area of expertise, depending on the design of your ring, if re-sizing is necessary, I may refer you to a more qualified local jeweler.

Can you set a stone that I supply?

I often receive requests from customers to build a ring using a stone they provide. Unfortunately, at this time, I am unable to assume the liability associated with working with customers' stone. There is a very slight (but ever-present) risk of damaging a stone during the setting process, and it's not a risk that I am currently comfortable accepting.

As an alternative, I am happy to discuss creating a ring without a stone, which you can then take to a local jewelry shop to have your stone set into - most jewelers will charge less than $100 for this service.