ETHICAL JEweLLERY

 
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It just seems common sense that when you're making something like jewellery, which is used to represent love and beauty by many, you'd want to make it as ethical as possible.  

Being ethical doesn’t have to be confined to the workshop. It can also mean being involved in improving standards in working conditions, traceability, and transparency, at the same time as being honest on open with customers about where the materials used to make their jewellery come from and what the limitations and challenges are. 

The jewellery industry has had its fair share of issues over the years, some well published and some not so much. We use our voice and our experience in the industry to help guide customers to the choice that best reflects their values.

 

Ethically sourced materials

Our policy is to use certified, ethically sourced metals, diamonds, and coloured gemstones wherever possible.  Where this is not possible, we will inform our customers and be fully transparent about the limitations regarding producing ethical jewellery.  In our opinion, there is a hierarchy of the current 'ethical' metals and a case for using metals, gemstones, and diamonds that are not traceable or ethical, given certain conditions, if requested. 

We follow the 'Fairtrade level'  categorisation approach, as outlined by U.S based, Columbia Gemhouse, the market leader in ethical gemstones.  We are licensees for Fairmined, an American based gold certification body, as well as registered goldsmiths with Fairtrade gold. Our approach can be said to be informed by personal experience and the social and philosophical movement, effective altruism.

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ethical gold

The story of Fairtrade gold is an inspiring tale of determination and success against the odds, which means that today we are able to offer jewellery made from gold that we know has been mined in safe and fair conditions in which the miners get a fair price for their work.  We are proud to offer both Fairtrade and Fairmined gold, as well as recycled silver and platinum. Unless otherwise stated, all the gold used in our collections is either Fairtrade or Fairmined. 

Gold mine in Bwanga, Tanzania

Limitations and challenges

The world of ethical consumerism is a growing and dynamic one. The jewellery industry has come a long way, but there is still a lot to do before high standards and fairness can be said to be the norm rather than the exception. Whilst traceable gold now exists, it represents a tiny fraction of the market, and other metals like silver and platinum have only sporadic supply. To find out more about the challenges, click here >>

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Ethically sourced gemstones

Gemstones are mined in countries all over world, often in some of the worlds poorest. While this mineral wealth can help to develop communities, it can also cause problems. We see it as our responsibility to find out where the gemstones we use in our jewellery come from, in order to know if they have been a force for good or bad.

The issues around gemstone mining are many: there are workers’ rights, pay, and safety concerns, as well as environmental and money laundering issues. Small scale miners make up a large proportion of the workforce for coloured gemstones.

In 2016/17, we visited Tanzania and spoke to small scale miners about the work they do, their motivations and challenges. You can read our experiences here.

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Responsible manufacturing processes

As a jewellery manufacturer, this is the part of the process that we are most directly responsible for. All of our jewellery is handmade in our East London workshop and we have complete control over the processes and materials that we use.

Energy consumption, water consumption, and the safe disposal of materials used are paramount to our practice and reduction of the impact we have on our planet.