Back at the end of last year my dear friend who loved our HotRocks wand pendants asked, “Does it come in gold?”

I’d been reluctant to use gold plating in my current jewellery as there was no way of responsibly tracing the gold and “recycled” gold just wasn’t ethical enough in my mind. In a moment of serendipity I became a Fairmined Licensee at the start of this year as a way of expanding the certified gold I use and similar to Fairtrade Gold supporting the artisanal and small-scale miners in Colombia. Signing up to Fairmined opened the door to new suppliers who work with this traceable gold and that’s when I discovered D&M Plating - the only registered UK supplier of certified gold plating.

After 6 months of designing, testing, making, plating and photographing we are now ready to launch HotRocks Alchemy.

My favourite time of year is festival season. In my mind there just isn’t anything better than floating around in fields with my friends. A chance to step away from the ratrace, shake off any worries and escape to a land of pure creativity.

The opening ceremony to this season is the Summer Solstice. You can feel the heat burning off the remains of the cold spring air and there’s a certain security in knowing we’re making the most out of each day. As the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth moves closest to the sun we’re lapping up the warmth of its golden rays as we peak at the longest day of the year.

Festivals take this feeling to the next level. Where hippies and psychonauts come together to celebrate being alive in the echoes of pagan traditions celebrating the abundance of summer and having survived another harsh winter with music carried on the wind and ritualistic dancing till the sun comes up.

This heady mix of emotion, creativity and nostalgia has been on my moodboard for The Rock Hound’s newest collection - HotRocks Alchemy. Taking on some familiar forms from our original HotRocks Collection we’ve replicated naturally occurring quartz crystals, created through the lost wax casting process making the pieces evoke a feeling of connection to Mother Earth. Inspired by the bright golden Summer sun with warm tones of yellow and rose gold, the Alchemy collection gives an opulent gold touch juxtaposed with a flash of colour adding playful mysticism to the pieces.

Forever striving to be ethically innovative this collection is an exclusive pairing bringing together two responsibly sourced materials for the first time.

Through plating the Fairmined Gold onto the AgAIN sterling silver we’ve created the ultimate 18ct Fairmined Gold Vermeil meaning you don’t have to sacrifice your morals or your bank balance to wear gold this season.