For years nature has worked hard to create the unique insulation known as eiderdown. Its thermal and healing properties have long been recorded and, due to its rarity, eiderdown has gained a luxurious image throughout the world. The current annual world output is a mere 4000 kg.

One of the advantages of eiderdown compared to goose down - is eiderdown's ability to immediately return to it's former volume after compression. Another quality is that the eiderdown plumbs are very lightweight and become uniquely hooked to each other. This prevents the down from migrating inside the garment that it is filled with.

It is perhaps easier to understand eiderdown's superior qualities when you consider that eiderdown protects its namesake eider ducks (somateria mollissima) from the extreme cold of The Arctic Ocean, its winter habitat, Eiders are only found around The Polar Circle, returning to shorelines of polar Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Russia in June.

Traditionally eiderdown was gathered during the nesting period . As it was centuries ago, eider down continues to be collected manually from eider nests with hay replacing what was taken: no harm comes to to the birds. The eiderdown is then hand washed, then exposed to an anti-septic tincture before it is ready for use.

With new processing technologies each nest can result in up to 16 grams of eiderdown. It's easy to count, how many nests it takes to get enough down for one eiderdown jacket!