A pink topaz Belle Époque pendant-brooch and a Victorian Egyptian Revival choker were also highlights at a recent Anderson & Garland sale.
Tagua Seeds Take Center Stage in New Collection
Alexandra Mor hopes to help promote the seeds as a luxury material and an alternative to elephant ivory.

New York--Through a new collection, one fine jewelry designer is hoping to promote an alternative for elephant ivory in the luxury space.
Alexandra Mor is celebrating her eponymous brand’s seventh anniversary with the launch of the Tagua Seeds collection this summer.
The off-white tagua seed comes from six species of palm trees commonly found in the humid rainforests of Central and South America.
Since they are seeds that can be harvested without cutting the plant down, they represent a sustainable resource, and they can be drilled, cut, carved and dyed.
Tagua seeds provide an alternative to ivory because they are quite comparable in hardness, color and texture, even garnering the nickname “vegetable ivory.” In fact, in just one year, a single female tagua palm can produce as much “ivory” as an average African elephant can in its lifetime.
The use of tagua seeds in jewelry is not new, but when Mor learned about them and the opportunities they presents as a botanical alternative, she thought her fine jewelry brand could help to draw attention to the material and help to end the killing of elephants for their ivory, and use her “voice in the industry and among collectors to initiate some important conversations about sustainable and mindful luxury,” she told National Jeweler.
The project also helps highlight the positive effects the harvesting and use of tagua seeds can have on the communities where they grow.
In Mor’s jewelry collection, the seeds are paired with black and red Balinese wood, Sumatran pearls, 22-karat yellow gold, diamonds and other gems to create the look. The collection includes earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, cuffs and a clutch.
Mor sources the seeds from an Ecuadorian supplier but is looking to expand the outreach to include more areas. The jewelry in the line also highlights the craftsmanship and heritage of Bali, working with local master goldsmiths and carvers there to create the pieces and sourcing some materials from Indonesia.
The collection will be priced between $3,000 and $35,000 retail.
The new line will be unveiled during New York Fashion Week, at Vogue Italia’s annual U.S. Protagonist event scheduled for Sept. 6. Eleven other fine jewelry brands will be present at that event.
After that, Tagua Seeds will be sold online at 1stDibs.com and available to interested retail partners upon request.
Twenty percent of proceeds from the collection will go to an elephant organization, which will be announced soon.
In
(All prices for pieces in the below slideshow are available upon request.)
The Latest

The event, which will co-locate with the Monterey Bay Jade Festival, will bring education sessions focused on jade to the United States.

The charm is a celebration of springtime as April showers bring May flowers with the piece’s cluster of diamond raindrops.

Bench jewelers spend years honing their skills, Jewelers of America’s Certification validates their talents.

The National Retail Federation expects retail sales growth to return to pre-pandemic levels as consumers continue to face inflation.


Rio Tinto unearthed the diamond at its Diavik mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

The multisensory experience, open April 8-13, will feature the brand’s silver creations among dream-like scenes of natural landscapes.

Natural diamonds mean more than lab-grown, but when every cut is ideal, they all look the same. Customers want more—Facets of Fire delivers.

The virtual event will take place April 7 at 3 p.m.

The pieces in “Animali Tarallo” portray animals from stingrays to elephants through portraits and interpretations of their patterns.

Parent company Saks Global said the iconic location will be open through the holiday season as it decides what to do with the space.

Ronald Winston, son of Harry Winston, donated the diamonds to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The educational event will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, this May.

The independent jeweler first opened its doors in 1888.

The layoffs come amid the TV shopping channel’s efforts to restructure and focus on live shopping through social media.

The debut event will take place in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood this fall.

The roundtable will take place May 17 ahead of the trade show’s welcome dinner.

The “Peanuts x Monica Rich Kosann” collection features the comic strip’s classic vocabulary across 10 bracelet designs.

Three industry experts dive into the complexities of the material often marketed as an “ethical” alternative for metal in jewelry.

The Utah-based company known for making wedding bands has acquired Doubloon Golf.

The longtime luxury executive led one of LVMH’s watch brands, TAG Heuer, for 12 years before taking over Bulgari in 2013.

Authorities said the robbers fled with jewelry and 70 Rolex watches, later taking pictures of themselves posing with big stacks of cash.

Lotus Gemology founder Richard W. Hughes has translated Heinrich Fischer’s 1880 book “Nephrit und Jadeit” from its original German.

The ring's design features contrasting lines influenced by work from architecture-inspired photographer Nikola Olic.

The Conference Board’s index fell as consumers continued to worry about the impact of tariffs, the labor market, and the price of eggs.

However, two medieval jewels surpassed estimates at Noonans Mayfair’s recent jewelry auction in London.

The Oscar-nominated actor debuted in the campaign for the new “Top Time B31” collection, which introduced Breitling’s Caliber B31.