Bonn Bons: Ethics and Victorian style

Lori Bonn necklace and bracelet Petal to the Medal is available at The Bronze Lady.

Lori Bonn and husband Bill Gallagher and their children.

Jewelry designer Lori Bonn’s fine Victorian inspired jewelry has been getting attention recently, and it is displayed in the June issue of InStyle Magazine. The Bronze Lady has been getting calls about the delightful Bonn Bon charm bracelets and necklaces. All the attention is not surprising, considering the heritage of the jewelry.

Lori Bonn says she was influenced by the fine Old World craftsmanship of Eastern European jewelry but she clearly has a New World sensibility that says that products ought to be environmentally neutral and socially positive.

That conviction led she and her husband, Bill Gallagher, to create a jewelry industry project Clear Conscience Jewelry about five years ago with the aim of assuring that their jewelry was produced in a responsible manner without harm to the environment or the people in communities from which it came.

Says Bill, who manages the operations of Lori Bonn Designs, “It’s jewelry that you can wear with a clear conscience and then feel as good as you look.”

The three elements of Clear Conscience Jewelry are ethical manufacturing, use of recycled materials and responsibly produced gemstones. Lori Bonn jewelry is made with at least 50 percent recycled metals. The company uses only manufacturing facilities that can prove they are providing fair wages and have safe working conditions free of abuse and discriminations.

Bill and Lori partnered with the jewelry coalition Madison Dialogue to establish standards and best practices for fair trade and ethical jewelry. The Madison Dialogue is an industry group of mining, manufacturing, design and retail companies.

Lori Bonn started designing jewelry in 1991, and has developed a significant following over the last two decades, actress Hilary Duff and Alicia Silverstone. Lori’s jewelry was featured on the long-running adventure TV show 24.

It is Lori's Old World design sense that has garnered that following and led a guest writer to wax nostalgic about Lori's work on the Lori Bonn blog. "With Lori Bonn's exquisite designs, I can satisfy my inner regal across any era — from dark filigree, hematite and quartz of Tudor to the bright elegance of the Windson Collection, and Bonn Bon's updated Victorian charms. I love it all."

Lori and Bill have two children and live in Oakland, California.