noën Jewellery: Beauty with responsibility

The noën Jewellery brand offers more than just beautiful jewellery. The founders Claudia and Malte Schindler spare no effort to refine dreamlike designs and genuine craftsmanship with environmental awareness and social responsibility - down to the smallest detail. The company's commitment is exemplary, pioneering and takes the resulting jewellery to a new level.

Left: Earrings and necklace from the "Cascade" collection. © noën

Traditional craftsmanship and contemporary values

Founded in 2006, the noën brand is still quite young compared to many other jewellery manufacturers from the Pforzheim area: the family business will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year. However, the goals and values of Claudia and Malte Schindler's brand are clear: jewellery must be more than just a beautiful accessory.

For Claudia Schindler, her personal journey with jewellery began as a child in her grandfather's jewellery manufactory, where she spent many hours observing the process of creating a piece of jewellery. These early experiences have shaped her flair, her love of detail and her understanding of perfect craftsmanship to this day. Malte Schindler brings the perfect complement with his background in product design.

His passion for design and modern production techniques complements Claudia Schindler's in-depth experience. The name of the brand, noën, is inspired by the Japanese first name Noemi, which means purity, clarity and beauty.

First German brand with the Fairtrade seal

Claudia and Malte Schindler are deeply concerned with the desire for jewellery that not only gives pleasure, but has also been produced transparently, fairly and ethically throughout its entire creation process. 

During a trip and visit to an illegal gold mining area in South America, both were able to experience first-hand the damage that can be caused to the environment. A dam collapse had released environmentally harmful waste - toxic materials such as mercury are often used in gold mining. The soil was so heavily contaminated that life is no longer possible there. Claudia Schindler could not let go of this depressing sight and laid the foundations for jewellery that was produced 100% fairly and traceably - with success: in 2015, noën became the first German jewellery brand to receive the Fairtrade seal - a milestone in the entire industry. Today, noën is a Fairmined-certified brand. The certification is regarded as the highest standard for responsible gold mining and stands for transparency and fairness along the entire supply chain.

Gold and silver, which form the basis for fine jewellery at noën, are certified so that the use of toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide can be greatly reduced or avoided altogether.

The diamonds that make the jewellery sparkle also shine in more ways than one: they are vintage diamonds that have been upcycled: They are re-cut and re-valued by gemstone experts - creating new value.

Coloured gemstones, such as the hand-picked tourmalines, come from a family-run company in Brazil that covers the entire value chain of gemstone production responsibly - from mining and cutting to export to Europe. This supply chain has been eco-fair certified since 2003. The certification guarantees no child labour, living wages, environmentally friendly mining methods without polluting water, soil and air, and the avoidance of corruption and violence.

Similar standards also apply to the sapphires that noën sources from Sri Lanka.

Modern jewellery between classicism and romanticism

The jewellery, which is made on the basis of all these good foundations, fascinates with different styles from a total of 13 collections: classically timeless, with a minimalist design, organic and close to nature, romantic, feminine and expressive.

The jewellery is created from the very first drawing in the company's own factory near Pforzheim. All work steps, from design and production using traditional craftsmanship to quality control, are carried out under one roof - this avoids long supply chains and external production routes, offers maximum transparency and also creates the flexibility to respond to individual requests. 

With its values, noën is considered a pioneer and a role model for a jewellery industry of the future that manages to raise beautiful, emotional and meaningful creations to a new level through yellow values for the environment and people. The brand's success story continues: this year, noën has been nominated for the German Sustainability Award 2025 nominated.