Heart and Soul

Of the three prerequisites of genius; the first is soul, the second is soul, and the third is soul.

~ Edwin P. Whipple ~

The Bali Connection

Handmade in Bali by Balinese artisans and founded in 1989 by a Canadian art student, John Hardy prides itself on creating handmade, sustainable luxury items with soul.

Head Designer, Guy Bedarida vows, each piece has a soul in itself, “because they are handmade with energy and passion of the beautiful people that are the Balinese. This really creates jewelry with soul.”

John Hardy also has heart, seen in its commitment to sustainable design and luxury, which, according to Bedarida, is essential to the line on two levels: the people and the environment.

Hardy employs 650 workers in Bali, all of who are completely respected and cared for by the company. People are quick to assume that the company stays in Bali for the cheap labor…not the case, and Bedarida adds that everyone is welcome to visit.

The workshop has been said to be one of the most beautiful places to work, a paradise for the people who work there.  The serene, luscious land surrounding the workshop provides for the workers, as organic food grown on site is made easily accessible to the people who work for the company.

Bedarida emphasizes, “we create a local economy [and] we care [that our] people have all the best possibilities working for us.”

The respect John Hardy has for the people can also be found to be of interest when it comes down to the environment. The workshop is a testament to sustainable design, built with local materials to fit in with the actual physical environment.  The factory is made of mud walls and straw roofs, creating a lower impact on the environment, “meaning that if tomorrow we had to move to another location, we would like the land to go back to what it was before, a farm or a rice field.”

Approximately 40 – 50 % of John Hardy jewelry is made from recycled silver, which lends to their value and respect for the environment.

The Sustainable Advertising Program

In 2006, John Hardy launched the Sustainable Advertising program, where carbon emissions released due to the company’s print advertising were made to correspond to the plantation of bamboo on a small island off the coast of Bali.

In 2007, they included air travel and, in 2008, electricity usage was added to the calculations and increased the plantation of bamboo.

Ultimately the result would launch the Bamboo Collection, whose motto is “Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo.”

For every piece sold from the Bamboo Collection, a certain number of bamboo seedlings, inscribed on the inside of the piece itself, are planted on the island.

Each handmade piece from John Hardy generates distinctive feelings for each customer; however, the designers have raised the bar with their unique one of a kind piece called “Cinta”, which means love in Bali.

Bedarida maintains that every woman is special and deserves a special piece, “so the idea was to create this collection which is one of a kind, very unique, for every unique woman.”

The John Hardy philosophy echoes the soulful ideal, found in the values of authenticity, accountability, transparency, and diversity, as everything happening in the John Hardy world is respected under these principals.

The John Hardy Jewelry Collections are not only luxury handmade designer pieces, but jewelry with spirit, soul, and a little secret for those lucky enough to own a piece.

For more information please visit http://www.JohnHardy.com or Holt Renfrew.

Words by Sandra Cross-Bussoli

Photos by Oscar Lopez © 2009