ALEGINA

White gold for a new industry from the sea

What if the pearl of the oyster was not its shell? The idea of giving a second life to this marine material was born from observing the fineness and pearly whiteness of the inner skin of this natural mineral. In 2017, an intuitive developer, an inventive ceramist and a seasoned industrialist created ALEGINA. With its name meaning “born of the sea” in Greek, this Vendée-based start-up specialises in the creation of innovative materials and products based on oyster shells.

From the idea to research borrowing from biomimicry, from tests to original creations, three years of R&D are necessary before the release in 2020 of the flagship product KAOMER, a porcelain of excellence combining whiteness, transparency and resistance. Today, it seduces the most beautiful tables in France and the world of luxury, for the creation of multiple objects, in perfume as well as in lighting, watchmaking and jewellery. But the experiments of the ALEGINA team do not stop there, since two other innovative products have emerged from its laboratory: a “low carbon” draining paving stone, very resistant, permeable, adapted to all urban soils (car parks, service roads, soft links, esplanades…); and a substrate for green roofs, 100% natural, biosourced, drawing all the benefits of the qualities of the shell, which is light, draining, reflective, refreshing, biodiversity-producing, and nourishing.