Tagua (pronounced TAG-WAH) is a nut or sometimes also referred to as a seed or nut seed from a palm-like tree that grows in the tropical rainforests of South America. The Tagua used in our tagua jewelry is particularly chosen from the Colombian rainforest.
Tagua is commonly known as "vegetable ivory" because of its rich ivory color and shiny texture. Using Tagua "vegetable ivory" discourages the poaching and harming elephants for animal ivory.
Tagua nuts are harvested after the tagua nut seed has already dropped to the forest floor, allowing the plant to continue to reproduce undisturbed and helping to preserve natural forest land. Tagua nut is sustainable and renewable and keeps rainforest flora intact as nature intended.
Collecting tagua nut jewelry and accessories supports a natural and economic way of life for many indigenous peoples. Once the Tagua Nut seeds are collected they are dried, sliced, polished and then dyed. Our third-generation Tagua Nut partner in Colombia carefully chooses non-toxic dye and coating that gives beautiful depth of color and prevents fade or bleed. Although the use of natural dyes would be the preference, their generations of experience has taught them the reality that the tagua nut surface absorption would be too weak to sustain the dye without rubbing off nor reaching the deep reach beautiful colors and shiny surface of vegetable ivory.
At each point, our experienced Tagua Nut supplier, takes painstaking time to check and look for cracks and inconsistencies in the tagua nut, the polish and the dye to insure a quality material and consistency for finishing products of jewelry adornment and accessories that we can rely on.
The process in its journey from planting, to growth to harvesting and from rainforest to drying to transporting to the City and exporting to us where experts prepare the Tagua Nut for artisan's to design and create beautiful jewelry pieces delivered right to your door. The process and work is hard but, without a doubt, the results are worth it. The drying process alone for each Tagua Nut to undergo its transformation to be workable is at a minimum of 3 days.
Tagua Nut is truly a Gift from the World, Made to Adorn.
Lightweight, beautiful, renewable, sustainable resource, shiny vegetable ivory not animal ivory, is providing an economy and lifestyle for indigenous peoples adding to why it remains a responsible choice for adornment and an accessory appealing to the collector not the consumer.
Please support social responsible adornment. What you buy can make a difference.
Caroline & Alvaro Coronado