Finally, a seller where leather meets sustainability: Unearthed, Exotic Leather Accessories is accessory shop where style, sustainability, and artistry come together.
One of the biggest things that has bothered me as a carnivore is the long lost native ideology of using everything that comes from the animal. Unearthed rectifies this oft-lost concern; their accessories use exotic leathers, from stingrays, ostrich, snakes, alligators, and more, to create unique bracelets, earrings, bags, and more. All of the leathers that are used in their products come from licensed game and fisheries; this ensures that that the animal pelts are not discarded as waste. Rather, Unearthed’s sister team, Karen and Gina Koenig, recycle the by-products into luxurious items, hand crafted with the highest skill.
One of my favorite pieces is this rich, ostrich leather bracelet. This piece is hand dyed a vibrant and stunning nutmeg color, and then lined with polished silver. Their cuff bracelets are a modest price, and come available in nearly every color.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Cool! Intresting stuff. I’m not a huge fan of leather but good to know that there is someone out there thats still trying to use all things.
Flutterby– I’m really picky about the animal hides I will wear, but part of what makes me feel less squeamish and immoral about this company is that they are putting good use to what would otherwise be byproducts!
Unfortunately, these are items that are anyone can buy from a wholesaler in Asia (probably Thailand) and while they may be ‘handmade’ and ‘recycled by-products’ they are not handmade or recycled by the two women, as their website makes us believe. All they are doing is ordering and reselling…Do a quick Google search for stingray leather accessories or pendants or bangles and you’ll find several wholesale sites, with the exact same items and pictures, that anyone can purchase these items to resell.
If this is something you believe to be true, it should be reported to Etsy.
I’m sure that there are plenty of Asian wholesalers making very similar work, but to me there still seems to be the possibility that they could be handmaking jewelry that has a very similar style, out of similar materials. I’m not entirely discounting either possibility. Also, the fact that they do custom orders, including custom dyes, seems to lend credibility to their claims.
Hello there,
This is Karen, from UNEARTHED.
I would like to rectify something.
We DO indeed craft all of our items BY HAND, in our small Los Angeles workspace.
We DO NOT purchase these items from Asia and resell.
We are not resellers,nor have we EVER been, and being acused of being a reseller without having seen our work is pretty harsh. But we will take that as a compliment…we have spent MONTHS fine tuning our line, and we work incredibly hard on each piece we make,(and have the scrapes, cuts, and broken fingernails to prove it!). Our pieces are INDEED crafted by me and my sister ONLY. And obviously we do not personally recycle the leather, and we don’t personally tan the leathers, but we don’t claim to. That would be absurd!
But I think in a way, it’s really flattering that some people find it hard to believe that our items are actually made by little old us:)
Again, we are NOT resellers. We DO do custom dyeing and work from custom patterns our clients provide us as well.
(I also think our clients who have requested complicated custom orders might beg to differ as well!)
And truly, any handmade item most assuredly has a mass produced counterpart ou there somewhere, It’s just a fact. But what makes Etsy and all the artists and craftspeople selling there so wonderful is that we are choosing to swim against the tide, and create and offer something that was made with LOVE, and the human touch.
Handmade CAN be perfect. Handmade CAN be classy and professional.
And to MissMalaprop, thank you once again for featuring us, we love the blog and appreciate it tremendously!
Thanks for speaking up Karen!
I know that many craft fairs and venues like Etsy often have issues with resellers sneaking in work handmade by someone else in another country, so I can see how it is a valid concern. I’m very glad that you’re not one of those resellers though!