Dinosaur Designs
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 3 November 2026 · 3 sources
Sydney design studio making hand-cast resin jewellery and homewares.
Dinosaur Designs can't show that the workers who make its products in India and Indonesia earn a living wage, which workers there are very unlikely to.
Also worth knowing
It has no full independent audit.
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Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 1 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 3 red flags: no evidence of a living wage, a hidden, unaudited supply chain in high-risk countries and untraced high-risk mined materials. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- It isn't Harm on record, because there's no serious confirmed problem on its record.
- Lacks transparency is still a poor grade: in supply chains like this, workers who can't be seen to be treated fairly are usually underpaid or unprotected.
Good requirements 1 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsMost of its products are made in India and Indonesia, where unions are heavily restricted, and it has no full supply chain audit.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Met: No child or forced labour findings or links
- Not met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that list
- Not met: Conflict-free: diamonds, gems and gold traced to the mine, lab-grown, recycled or Fairmined (the Kimberley Process alone isn't enough)
Red flags 3
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Hidden supply chain, mostly in countries with poor worker rights
- Red flag: Relies on high-risk mined materials it can't traceShown to explain the grade. It isn't one of the 2 red flags that set it.
- Red flag: Fails its category's raw-material check (means Lacks transparency)
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Estimates for its products
Our rules applied to one kind of product at a time, using Dinosaur Designs's evidence and, where it has product lines, that line's countries. They're estimates: we don't know which factory made any single item.
Rings, Necklaces & pendants, Earrings, Bracelets: Lacks transparency, the same as Dinosaur Designs overall, because nothing we know differs between them.
Holding one? Scan its barcode for an estimate that uses its care label or ingredients.
Where it's made
Dinosaur Designs says which countries it makes its products in, but doesn't name the factories.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
| India | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | High |
| Indonesia | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: gold and gemstone mining are linked to child labour, forced labour and mercury poisoning.
- Makes part of its range in its own factories
- Traces most of its leather to the country of origin or beyond, or buys most of it certified
- Relies on gold and gemstones from artisanal mines where workers face mercury poisoning, silica dust and deadly collapses. It hasn't shown any steps to trace these materials to the mine, so it's graded Lacks transparency until it does.
Research notes Dinosaur Designs' resin jewellery and homewares are cast and finished by hand in its own Sydney studio, using resin bought from the USA. Its brass and silver jewellery is handmade by outside craftspeople in India and Indonesia, and its metal homewares by artisans in India; it says this work exceeds local standards for pay and conditions but names no workshops, gives no split by country and publishes no audits. It makes no claim about recycled metal or where its metal comes from; leather cord comes from a family-run factory in Greece.
What independent sources say
Sources and actions
Sources 3
Show all 3 sources
- Broadsheet – Seven lessons over 40 years with Dinosaur Designs (2025) · search the archive · December 2025: resin pieces made in-house in its five-level Redfern studio; seven Australian stores plus New York and London.
Published by Dinosaur Designs or its owner
- Dinosaur Designs – Green care · search the archive · Resin pieces made in Sydney studio; brass and silver jewellery by makers in India and Indonesia; metal homewares in India; leather cord from Greece.
- Dinosaur Designs – About · search the archive · Founded by Louise Olsen and Stephen Ormandy; resin pieces made by hand in its Sydney studio; also makes gold, silver and brass jewellery.
Company details
- Headquarters
- Australia
- Last researched
- 3 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Dinosaur Designs ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/dinosaur-designs, last researched 3 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
Other fashion jewellery brands
Nothing we've rated in fashion jewellery is better than Lacks transparency yet.
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Dinosaur Designs.