Wood, paper, stone, even bones — jewellery designers have found many materials to craft sustainable and/or upcycled collections. For Eishita Puri, founder of Mumbai-based brand Eurumme, the inspiration came from her office. “In our line of work, there is always waste packaging material lying around. It got me thinking if I could transform them to make different accessories,” she says. Her latest line, Metanoia, is made out of cardboard, coated with metal.

Mixed medium

The name is derived from a Greek word that literally means ‘to change one’s purpose’. The former journalist, whose passion for jewellery drew her to make a career switch, explains that the process of creating the collection was fascinating. “Conceptually, it sounded cool and exciting, but there were technical issues. It took about 10 months to bring out the products, especially since it was so experimental. We had to play around and find out which type of cardboard best held up to the rigors of metal coating, using boxes of different materials, thickness and consistency.”

When they hit on the perfect formula, Puri was surprised by how little material they actually needed to pull off the designs. “Depending on the style, we were able to create about 10 pairs of earrings from one medium-sized box,” she says. The collection has an ancient Mesopotamian aesthetic, and includes statement cuffs, earrings, bangles and chains, plated with silver, gold, rose gold and charcoal metal.

Loved by stars

While the brand, initially launched in 2015, is popular with the Bollywood crowd — frequently sported by Swara Bhasker, Freida Pinto, Sayani Gupta, Neha Dhupia and Chitrangda Singh, among others — Puri had another concern. “Would people want to wear jewellery made of cardboard? I wasn’t sure, but I had to find out,” she says, adding that while sometimes the design drives her collections, at other times, it’s the material. “Earlier, we had done a collection made of dry leaves. If the medium is metal, then it’s more about the design, because people are used to working with it. I try and experiment with newer materials just to keep things exciting,” she concludes.

₹1,000 for stackable rings, earrings from ₹3,500 to ₹4,000, and necklaces at ₹7,500, on eurumme.com.