values & commitments
"Ethics is the aesthetics of the interior"
April Please is proud to bring together so many beautiful values, because beyond creating something beautiful, it is now more than ever necessary to do it well. As the French poet Pierre Reverdy said, "ethics is the aesthetics of the interior".
April Please, an ethical brand
You see gold-tone jewelry, they see gold-plated creations, a guarantee of quality and durability, but above all, RJC-certified gold. You see jewelry in sparkling colors, they see crystals with bold shapes and vibrant colors, made in Europe and carefully selected to surprise you. You see an original brand led by Julia Maufay and Émilie Dupas, they see a brand whose mission is to offer you amazing, unique and ethical jewelry day after day.
For April Please, ethics means respect. Respect for artisans, their work, the production chain, but also for customers. It is important to offer them a product that is as “good” as it is “beautiful”. Because beyond the jewelry, it is also a whole set of actions, sometimes invisible, that the brand has put in place, creating its own rules of conduct.
The brand favors French or European production and collaborators, eager to promote and showcase local expertise. Also, feeling as close as possible to its partners is essential to build bonds of trust.
April Please's 3 major commitments
Promote local businesses and products made in France
Promote jewelry recycling
Prefer a green and anti-waste policy
1. A sustainable brand
To ensure these pieces of jewelry stand the test of time, April Please has opted for 18-karat gold plating, while most fashion jewelry brands prefer 14-karat gold plating to keep costs down. It is important for the brand to offer products that are not only original but also high-quality and long-lasting.
Each piece of jewelry is first made from brass (a non-ferrous metal alloy composed mainly of copper and zinc). This alloy does not rust or wear down through oxidation. It is also favored by luxury fashion houses, which use it instead of gold for everything except their fine jewelry. Although raw brass tarnishes easily, this does not affect its performance or durability.
To complete its range, April Please also offers eco-friendly packaging (jewelry cases and shipping boxes) that is made from recycled and recyclable materials.
The packaging bags, which are used throughout the brand’s logistics but remain unseen by customers, are no longer made of plastic but of a single renewable material: sugarcane.
2. Environmental responsibility
To go further, beauty must also go hand in hand with doing good. This is why, in addition to offering high-quality, made-in-France jewellery, April Please is committed to limiting its environmental impact and is implementing initiatives to promote more responsible consumption.
The brand is adopting a greener, waste-reducing approach. To achieve this, it works with local partners who share its values.
- The processing facility. The gold is 65% recycled gold and the palladium is 98% recycled palladium, both certified by the RJC (Responsible Jewellery Council).
- The printer. Thank-you cards and other stationery are imprim’Vert certified (recycled paper) and FSC certified, while shipping boxes and jewellery boxes are FSC and FSC Mixed certified. The FSC label is a forest management certification system that guarantees that wood (and therefore paper and cardboard) comes from legal, sustainably managed forestry operations.
- Logistics. Orders are processed in-house. The individual jewellery packaging, including zip bags, is made in France from a single natural and renewable material: sugarcane. Shipping boxes for professional orders are exclusively reused boxes from second- or third-hand sources.
3. RJC certified gold
After years of research and testing, April Please has succeeded in surrounding itself with professionals in the key areas of its jewelry production. One of the main players in the proper creation of a piece of jewelry is the surface treatment workshop, or more simply, the gold plater.
This sector is highly regulated and monitored because mining operations must be ethical: respecting people and nature. The RJC label then allows us to certify which players we can turn to with complete confidence. Here, it is the gold (and metal) supplier that holds the label.
Jewelry recycling
A broken piece of jewelry, a tarnished chain, failed prototypes… all these situations made the brand reflect on one simple question: what do we do with them now?
After implementing so many sustainable initiatives, there was only one final detail to address: recycling unsellable jewelry to prevent it from ending up at the bottom of a trash can (or worse).
The initiative was first established internally before being offered to our customers, providing a beautiful end for all the jewelry left at the bottom of a drawer.
April Please is therefore committed to collecting your costume jewelry and recycling it through its partners. Upcycling is now essential, and every company must offer recycling solutions for the products it produces. And the circle is complete.
did you know?
The RJC label
The gold and palladium used by April Please are RJC (Responsible Jewellery Council) certified. This label is designed to validate the good practices of companies involved in the gold or diamond supply chain, from the mine to distribution. Thus, RJC certification allows a company to position itself as an actor respecting an ethical and social code and to prove that the raw materials used in its business come from methods that respect people and the environment. Quickly becoming a must-have, RJC certification is a mark of credibility for the brands that hold it.
Key takeaways
- The service providers and suppliers are located in France or Europe, with the aim of being as local as possible.
- The gold used in the creations is recycled and RJC (Responsible Jewellery Council) certified
- The stationery and various printed materials are imprim’Vert certified (recycled paper) and FSC certified
- The shipping boxes and presentation boxes are FSC and FSC Mixed certified
- The packaging bags are made from a single renewable material (Minigrip® Bio-based, certified by cyclos-HTP and TÜV AUSTRIA OK biobased)
