Omi Woods is a Canadian jewellery brand that celebrates both culture and sustainability. They have quickly made a name for itself in the industry owing to their ethically made, heirloom pieces.
Founded by Torontonian Ashley Alexis McFarlane, each piece of Omi Woods jewellery is intended to be a celebration of Africa and her diaspora, in part due to McFarlane’s own Jamaican-Ashanti-Maroon heritage. That is why McFarlane made it clear from the beginning that she only wanted to work with ethical fine metals. Since the company’s beginnings in 2016, she has done just that.
To date, Omi Woods works exclusively with fair-trade African gold and globally-sourced conflict-free fine metals, including sterling silver, gold vermeil, and solid gold. Fine metals in and of themselves are sustainable as they naturally have a higher tolerance to corrosion and oxidation. This ensures that any jewellery purchased will stand the test of time.
The newest material to be added to Omi Woods’ arsenal is fair trade African gold. “We believe in paying people fairly for their resources, time and labour. Our solid gold jewelry is now made with fair trade African gold. The gold is sourced from small-scale artisanal mines that support the well-being of miners and their communities by paying miners a fair wage and contributing to improved health care, education, safety and living conditions on the continent,” reads Omi Woods’ website.
Their other metals, such as sterling silver, gold vermeil (also known as gold over sterling silver), and their 10K to 24K solid gold are all proudly conflict-free. Many people fail to realize that roughly 20% of the world’s gold is used to fund conflicts around the world. McFarlane makes sure that all the gold and other fine metals they source are 100% conflict-free and come from casting houses that are dedicated to ethical manufacturing and reducing their carbon footprint.
Finally, in an effort to give back, Omi Woods donates a portion of its sales to a different non-profit or charity each year. In 2019, their donation went to AllOneBlood, a New York-based non-profit organization that empowers people with Sickle Cell disease. In 2020, Omi Woods donated to 8 Billion Trees, which is committed to planting trees in order to rebuild habitats and offset carbon emissions.
All images in this article are courtesy of Omi Woods.
