Gold possesses a unique quality among precious metals: it can be melted and remelted an infinite number of times without ever losing any of its properties. Malleability, lustre, corrosion resistance, purity — all are preserved through each cycle. It is a truly eternal resource.
A Stock Above the Ground
This reality has a remarkable implication: the quantity of gold already extracted from the earth since antiquity now exceeds what remains in mines. There is literally more gold above the Earth's surface than below it.
In this context, continuing to extract virgin gold is not only polluting — it is superfluous. The resources are there, in the form of used jewellery, precious objects, and above all in a less expected form: electronic waste.
Gold from Electronic Waste
Gold has exceptional electrical conductivity and incomparable corrosion resistance. This is why it is present in significant quantities in almost all electronic devices: smartphones, computers, industrial circuit boards. These obsolete devices constitute what is known as "urban gold mines".
One tonne of electronic waste contains up to 1 kg of recoverable gold. In a high-performance mine, one rarely extracts more than 5 grams of gold per tonne of extracted ore. Electronic gold is therefore a considerably denser resource than traditional mines.
Our Choice
At Origine Paris, we use exclusively certified recycled 18-carat gold from traceable circuits. This gold finds a new life in our jewellery — melted, refined, worked by our Parisian master jewellers — without having required a single tonne of displaced earth, a single drop of polluted water.
It is our way of creating a luxury that respects what came before us and what will follow.