With Kinraden, gold and northern design are combined with African wood.
The mpingo is a small, gnarled tree that grows very slowly. Mpingo, specifically, is the Swahili name for dalbergia melanoxylon, also called the blackwood of East Africa. The trees often have multiple stems and are widely branched. They are not cut before the age of 70-100. Sarah Müllertz, former partner and global head of design at the internationally renowned Henning Larsen Architects studio in Copenhagen, turned this wood into “diamonds” for jewelery.
Her professional origin is reflected in design: Sarah works halfway between architecture, design and art, with a strong influence of Danish and Japanese culture. Kindred, her brand, experiments with materials, combining the usual elements, such as gold, with surprising ones, such as mpingo. The wood, however, comes from sustainable forests in Tanzania protected by the WWF. Gold is also sustainable: it is recycled and purified metal, or sterling silver.
Kinraden is an Old English word meaning kinship. The brand uses it to remind us that we are all related on this planet: people, animals, and plants. A kinship that is real: everything we do affects the lives of others in some way. That’s why all the jewelry is handmade with just three materials: solid 18-karat reclaimed gold and sterling silver, paired with mpingo wood.
