How I Got Here: Alice Chave on Giving Old Tech New Life as Jewelry

By Karen Dybis | November 19, 2025

Alice Chave has an engineer’s analytical mind, so when faced with an ample supply of a product, she jumps to determining a use for it. In the case of her brand Incador, Chave—who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering—saw that fine jewelry could be a solution to an abundance of electronic waste.

Chave started the London-based Incador in 2024 with her sister, and fellow engineer, Karen. The duo work with Swiss refiners to extract fine gold from old or broken electronics, such as iPhones and laptops, and use it to make 18k gold jewelry.

The Chaves recently debuted their first collection, Emboldened, composed to 20 coral-inspired pieces. Each one comes with a jewelry “passport” detailing the batch of electronics it originated from.

Simultaneously, the sisters have started Tech for Treasure, a program at their alma mater, University College London, that installs collection banks on campus where students and staff can recycle their tech.

Incador Coral Hoop Earrings — *Incador’s Signature Coral Hoop Earrings in 18k gold, $5,135*

The Chave sisters grew up on Penang, an island off the western coast of Malaysia. The culture there was relaxed and community-oriented, Alice says, and she and her sister spent much of their childhood playing outside and with people who felt like extended family.

The two were avid scuba divers since childhood, and their experience of the underwater world’s beauty inspired Emboldened, for which they turned recycled gold into coral shapes and textures.

Alice traces another influence on her jewelry designs to high school: receiving a bespoke pendant necklace from her best friend so they could have matching jewelry pieces. “It was the first time I realized how sentimental jewelry could be,” she says. “I still have that piece to this day, and she’s still my best friend.”

Also influential on Chave’s career path was an engineering internship when she was 16. It gave her her first glimpse into the corporate world, she says.

“I learnt how companies streamline their processes and structure themselves to stay organized, but my main takeaway, if I’m honest, was that I needed to find a job that would allow me to be more creative,” says Chave.

Incador Tiger Signet Ring — *Modern Tiger Signet Ring in 18k gold, $2,407*

She went on to study environmental engineering at the University of Nottingham and then earned a master’s in engineering for international development from University College London in 2021. Her dissertation was on artisanal and small-scale mining and its impact on local communities—how it might help alleviate poverty and support the regions in substantial ways.

Because of the research she did, Incador donates a portion of its profits to a Peruvian charity supporting artisanal mining communities. The sisters also partly source their materials for the brand through ASM.

“This study was monumental in helping me view artisanal mining from a holistic perspective, as a livelihood for hundreds of millions of people, offering immense potential to reduce poverty yet also presenting significant challenges when not properly formalized or regulated,” Alice says.

From 2022 to 2024, she worked for a startup called Power for Planet, which facilitated waste-to-energy projects, essentially converting organic waste into biogas to generate electricity. It was on that job that Chave began exploring different waste streams and understanding their value.

Incador Agaricia Ring — *Alice and Karen Chave say the Andaman Ring ($2,193) is “inspired by their childhood memories in Southeast Asia,” per the Incador website.*

“I learnt that electronic waste contains billions of pounds worth of precious metals. Electronic waste, particularly concentrated in printed circuit boards and central processing units, holds significant amounts of these valuable metals, with one ton of e-waste containing up to 400 times more gold than a ton of mined ore,” Chave explains.

The idea for Incador struck while Alice and Karen were designing a pair of gold earrings for fun. They wanted to share a message with their work, and repurposing e-waste for jewelry would fulfill that goal. Their philosophy is that gold jewelry is an investment not just in value but also in meaning.

The Chaves included Inca in their brand’s name to pay homage to the Indigenous culture of Peru, the largest gold-producing country in Latin America. Around 85% of Peru’s ASM is dedicated to gold, says Alice.

“Beyond being an extraordinary material, gold holds emotional and historical significance,” she says. “Jewelry connects people, and it preserves memories and stories. When crafted in gold, it becomes timeless, something that can truly stand the test of time.”

Top: Alice Chave (standing) founded London-based jewelry brand Incador with her sister Karen. (Photos courtesy of Incador)