The jewellery industry relies on complex, and often opaque supply chains. It isn’t always easy to be sure of where a given gemstone has come from, and whether it’s been extracted in an ethical way. Given that modern consumers are more concerned than ever before about the ethics of a given purchase, there’s been increased focus in recent years on supply chains in the jewellery business.
Sustainable Sourcing of Materials
When sourcing materials, jewellers have a responsibility to be discerning. This might mean looking at recycled metals, which don’t rely on mining at all. Given that recycling can take place anywhere in the world, it’s much easier to ensure that it’s done in accordance with strong labour laws and ethical standards.
Where this isn’t possible, we might look at ethically sourced materials. This means overseeing the mines, and putting in place independent third parties to ensure that practices are up to the required standard. This is where certification schemes like Fairmined and Fairtrade Gold come into play. They’re able to apply a seal of approval that demonstrates to jewellers and customers that the materials have been sourced in the right way.
A number of jewellers are certified by Fairmined. Belgian designer Saskia Shutt, East Forth Street in Minnesota, and Bytomsky/Bytomska in Warsaw have all been singled out by the company. Ethical jewellers tend to be upfront about their credentials, but it’s worth digging into any claims and seeing whether they are backed up by independent third parties. It’s easy to claim to be ethical, but more difficult to actually follow ethical practices.
Of course, it isn’t a given that precious stones have to be mined at all. Lab-grown alternatives are becoming increasingly popular. They come at a fraction of the price of the natural equivalent, and they’re ethically much easier to justify.
Environmentally Friendly Production Methods
As well as the human cost of mining, we should also think about the impact on the natural world. Production techniques that aim to minimise environmental damage include using renewable energy sources, and limiting water consumption wherever possible.
We should also think about the style of jewellery, and the price paid for it. Certain kinds of jewellery are built to be disposable, while others are built to last for centuries, and be passed on as heirlooms, or sold as beautiful second-hand jewellery. In the long term, it’s the latter that makes the more environmentally-friendly, ethical choice – since any harms that are inflicted during production are diluted over the ensuing years.
Packaging also matters. Using sustainable materials in jewellery boxes, and offering recycling programs for unused materials, can help to shrink the ecological impact of any given jewellery brand.