The Earth Wears Memory
Jewellery is a language older than words. In every corner of the earth, long before scripts were written or empires built, humans reached for beauty. They adorned themselves with bone, shell, stone, and metal—not as decoration, but as identity. From birth to burial, jewellery was a code: of tribe, of time, of memory.
Today, that instinct lives on. Yet in a world driven by trend cycles and mass production, much of what we wear has lost its meaning. But a quiet revolution is returning: one of slow jewellery, ethical luxury, and adornment as archive. These are pieces made not just to be worn, but to be remembered. This is a story of jewellery with soul.
Meet Jewellery Philosopher - Pippa Small
To call Pippa Small a jewellery designer would be to only scratch the surface. She is a storyteller, an anthropologist, and a quiet revolutionary in the world of adornment — someone for whom jewellery is not an accessory, but an archive. A map of memory. A vessel of connection.
For over two decades, Pippa has redefined what luxury can mean: not speed or status, but intimacy, purpose, and deep respect for the people and places behind each piece. Her creations are hand-touched, ethically sourced, and made in collaboration with artisans from communities across Afghanistan, Colombia, Myanmar, Palestine, and beyond — many of whom she has worked with for years, even decades.
In Pippa’s world, jewellery is both ancient and alive. It is a human instinct — to carry beauty, to remember who we are, to hold something close that grounds us in our story. Her pieces are not simply worn — they are treasured, passed on, and lived in.
“Jewellery is memory. It holds energy, love, and legacy.”
Anthropology Meets Adornment
Before the designs, before the gold, there were stones. Pippa Small remembers the beginning clearly: pebbles in her pockets, rocks by the bedside, talismans tucked into the folds of her daily life. "These tiny, ancient, solid and unchanging pieces of the earth were like talismans to me," she recalls. "I gathered and collected rocks from all the happy places I have been. I kept them in my pocket, in my bed and bath. I loved having them near me."
It wasn’t long before she found a way to bring them closer still. As a teenager, armed with a simple drill, she pierced holes in her gathered treasures — not to make fashion statements, but to wear the earth’s memory. That instinctive gesture — to carry nature, memory, and meaning on the body — became the quiet seed of a philosophy that would span continents, cultures, and decades.
Pippa’s path was never linear — it was layered, interwoven. Her academic background in anthropology, focused on human rights and mental health, might seem far from the world of jewellery. But for her, the link is vital and alive. "Indigenous human rights are about land, language, identity, and self-determination. When I began to link my love of design and stones to the places and people I was working with, I saw there was massive potential."
The Art of Collaboration
Her fieldwork took her to communities like the San Bushmen of Botswana and the Kuna people of Panama — where jewellery wasn’t just decoration, but resistance. Identity. Continuity. What these communities often lacked was not artistry, but access — to markets, to visibility. It was here that Pippa began weaving together two worlds: the ancestral and the contemporary, the personal and the political.
"My process begins with deep research — museum collections, prehistoric art, ceramics, textiles, early portraits. I search for traditional aesthetics and iconography. Then I find elements that speak of place but carry universal resonance."
From there, design begins. She sketches by hand. She sits with artisans. They discuss, refine, sample, and shape.
Over nearly 30 years, Pippa has built a global constellation of collaborators — artisans who are more like family. From India to Afghanistan, Palestine to Bolivia, these partnerships have weathered time, love, loss, war, and celebration.
"I feel I have a huge family of people I’ve known for years — we’ve worked together through love, marriage, children, recession, COVID, political upheaval. Our friendships are everything to me. Standing beside them and creating beautiful things that are treasured around the world — it’s a huge feeling of hope."
She believes in the power of proximity — not only physical, but emotional. Working side by side. Sharing meals. Honouring tradition while imagining new forms.
Defining Slow Luxury
If "luxury" once meant excess, speed, and exclusivity, Pippa offers something radically different: intimacy, patience, and care. "Making by hand is a very slow art. Patience, huge skill, and design instincts are needed to create."
Her commitment to "slow luxury" is also a social mission: to create employment, to preserve endangered skills, and to offer young people in volatile regions a reason to stay rooted — to believe in beauty as livelihood. "In many of the places I work, conflict and violence are a concern. There are few opportunities, and many young people are forced to migrate. If we can be successful with the designs and generate sales, it provides both work and a sense of pride — a confidence that only creating beauty with your own hands can bring."
Ethical jewellery is no longer fringe. According to McKinsey, 20–30% of fine jewellery buyers under 40 now prioritize traceability and ethical production. Brands rooted in values—like Pippa Small —are leading the way. With the global market for ethical jewellery expected to expand by 2027, this growth isn’t just consumer-driven. It’s a shift in philosophy: that luxury should not exploit. That beauty should honour. That what we wear should tell the truth.
Sourcing with Integrity
The story of jewellery is also the story of material. Gold, lapis, glass, bone, and shell have long held sacred status. But behind each material lies a question: who mined it, who shaped it, who benefits?
In the age of fast fashion, an estimated 80% of the world’s gold is mined by large-scale corporations. However, there is work being done around reducing a mine’s environmental impact and steps taken to improve social equity.“It’s a privilege to see mines that are trying to improve environmental impact — to replant, to clean up, to ensure miners are paid and safe. That the value of these precious materials actually reaches the people who need it,” Pippa says.
But an alternative path exists like the Fairmined Gold from Bolivia, where communities receive fair wages and restore landscapes; Afro-Colombian Panned Gold using ancestral techniques that preserve river ecologies; and Lapis Lazuli from Badakhshan, Afghanistan—a mine dating back 7,000 years, now revived through ethical trade.
The story of Pippa’s work is also the story of her materials — and the people behind them. She has worked with the world’s first fair trade gold mine in Bolivia, and with artisanal miners in Myanmar, Colombia, and Afghanistan. These aren’t just supply chains — they’re lifelines of sovereignty and sustainability.
She speaks with particular tenderness about the hand-panned gold of Chocó, Colombia:
“We work with a women’s association of very political and courageous Afro-Colombian women. They pan gold using wooden bowls, in a way that doesn’t disturb the river. Their method ensures there is gold left for their children and grandchildren — nature’s gift to their community."
That gold then travels to Tumaco, where traditional goldsmiths transform it into heirloom pieces.
Adorned with Intention | A Curated Edit
In a world of fast fashion and mined excess, Pippa’s jewellery stands in quiet rebellion. These are not pieces for the season — they are pieces for the soul. Handcrafted, storied, and built to last generations.
“Jewellery is memory,” Pippa says. “It holds energy, love, and legacy. It’s not just about looking beautiful — it’s about carrying something meaningful forward.”
At the heart of this philosophy is a rejection of extractive beauty — jewellery that is mined in harm’s way, made in haste, and discarded in trend cycles.
Each piece Pippa creates carries a story — a relationship, a landscape, a quiet rebellion. These are not just objects to wear, but to remember.
Here are three that feel especially resonant now:
Colombian Leaf Earrings
Delicate, precise, and full of movement — a tribute to the women of Chocó and their harmonious relationship with the rivers.
Shop here: https://pippasmall.com/products/18kt-colombian-gold-filigree-four-leaf-earrings
Olive Three Leaf Ring
A symbol of peace, persistence, and cultural memory, drawn from Mediterranean iconography and artisanal mastery.
Shop here: https://pippasmall.com/products/18kt-gold-bethlehem-zaytun-leaf-ring
Zindagi Now Necklace (Lapis)
"Zindagi" means life in Urdu — this bold lapis piece is a hymn to joy, depth, and the clarity of being fully present.
Pippa champions adornment that honours its source: jewellery made from responsibly mined gold, stones that carry cultural history, and hands that shape with care. Each piece is a future heirloom — something to be passed on, not just for its form, but for the story it holds. It’s about preciousness not defined by rarity, but by respect. Respect for the earth, for the maker, and for the memory it carries.
Something to Adorn
When we wear something handmade, when we know its source, when it carries someone’s touch—we feel it. Jewellery becomes more than metal or gem. It becomes a keepsake of connection. Slow jewellery is about memory. About beauty with backbone. About wearing stories worth telling. In a world that forgets fast, these are pieces to hold close. To pass on. To remember.
Pippa’s journey continues — not in scale, but in depth. She is currently focused on expanding her collaborations with Golden Zaytouna, a collective of artisans in Bethlehem, as well as with a brilliant glassblower in Ramallah. In Romania, she’s working with the Roma coppersmiths of Transylvania to preserve a centuries-old craft.
In a world that moves quickly and forgets easily, Pippa Small invites us to slow down — to adorn ourselves not in status, but in story. Her jewellery is not just something we wear. It’s something we remember. It’s the earth, wearing memory. And it’s beautiful.
