LeJu is a fusion of two talents: Lenny Trines, a Dutch-born jewellery designer, and Juan Munoz, a London-based businessman from Colombia. It was in South America that Lenny discovered her natural talent and creativity by working with various artisans, learning different techniques. She is truly inspired by the natural world stating, “I work with a product that has a wonderful purpose, which is to help stop the killing of elephants to obtain ivory. Moreover, it is 100% sustainable and its quality is superb. I try to create designs, which reflect its roots. Nature is full of wonderful colours and I use them to reflect it in people’s lives.”

LeJu was one of the first design companies to introduce vegetable ivory to Europe.  Since then it has had many imitators but with her natural talent, Lenny has continued to produce innovative designs, introducing new elements such as ceramics, silver, copper and leather into her pieces.

Vegetable Ivory is a very special palm seed obtained from a palm tree called Hyphaene Phytelephas. The tree grows in the wild, in a sub-tropical climate. It has been widely used since 1826 as a replacement for elephant ivory. Like elephant ivory, the seeds can be fashioned into all sorts of beautiful objects, from chess pieces, handles of fine furniture, buttons and pendants to knife handles and belt buckles with intricate scrimshaw designs. If you want to know more about it, click here to go to the LeJu website.