Ethical Gemstones – Where we are

As you’re probably aware the issues behind sourcing ethical gemstones are complex – where the politics are okay, the environmental impact may not be or there may be human rights issues. It is impossible, at the moment, to guarantee every one of these will be okay for each gemstone, given the difficulty of tracing them down the supply chain. Although, thanks to the Kimberley Process we can be very sure that we’ll never be using conflict diamonds.

This doesn’t mean we’re sitting back and doing nothing.

Within the jewellery industry we all struggle with the choice between buying only from westernized countries, where we know the labour laws are up to scratch and rigorously enforced, compromising with the generally higher environmental cost from heavily mechanized mining techniques. Or conversely trying to find people who are doing a good job in less developed countries.

What we and our gem dealers keep coming back to is that there are people down the line who won’t be able to eat if we don’t keep buying gemstones from them. When you’ve travelled to some of these desperately poor places and met the people who depend on artisanal mining and the production of gemstones to live, it doesn’t seem so ethical to only buy diamonds from Canada for example.

We have assurances from all our gemstone suppliers that they are not buying from anyone who uses restrictive labour practices or child labour. We generally use gemstone dealers who travel all over the world actually visiting the places they are buying from, and they are experts in small far away conflicts. The goalposts between what is responsible to buy and what will go to fund something undesirable keep changing, but we have built up relationships with people we trust to keep up with this and to do the right thing.

One of the things we’re really excited about is the work that the Responsible Jewellery Council is doing to build an ethical gemstone certification process right through the supply chain. So, one day it won’t just be a question of finding people we trust, there will be independent certification of the work that they’re doing. The RJC already audits for diamonds, gold and platinum group metals and some coloured gemstones; we feel that the continued expansion of their work can only improve working practices and trust in the jewellery industry. They started with diamonds, which are the highest value gemstones and so attract the most problems, but because we have always worked with our coloured gemstone suppliers to make sure that the gems we buy for your jewellery are sourced as responsibly as possible, our suppliers will be ready to step up and get certified when the time comes.

Your Choices

Whilst there is no such thing as a Fairtrade gemstone, one option that has recently become available are ethical gemstones mined under fair trade principles. This answers a lot of questions for us because we know they come from projects that are improving:

• Environmental standards
• Labour practices
• Health and safety in mining and cutting
• Fair pay and community benefits for miners

We can currently source sapphires, spinel, ruby, garnet, peridot, tanzanite and tourmaline from suppliers who work on fair trade principles and do all they can to ensure their stones are from ethical sources… and this list is growing!

If the practice of mining worries you then we do have alternatives, including using what we call ‘”recycled” diamonds which have come from pieces of jewellery that are too old and damaged to be repaired. We think of them as having been pre-loved and relish the opportunity to give these gemstones a new lease of life.

We can also source synthetic (also known as laboratory grown) gemstones. Chemically these are real gemstones, but they have been produced in a factory in the space of weeks or months rather than deep underground over the course of millions of years. They tend to have good clarity because there are no impurities present while the crystal is forming, and synthetic diamonds can be further treated to be changed into different colours. Some people love them because no mining has taken place but the amount of energy that has to go into creating crystals and then growing them is huge. We are particularly wary of this energy use and what it might mean environmentally, since the technology to grow the stones has become much more accessible. Factories are springing up in countries that rely on fossil fuels and have somewhat less regulated labour laws – unless you do your research, it’s hard to know under what conditions synthetic gemstones have been formed.

The technology behind the creation of synthetic gemstones is improving rapidly, which means prices are coming down. This is great for customers who don’t like the idea of new mining as it is making things more accessible; however it does mean that jewellery using these stones is likely to devalue.

We are also very aware of the fact that mining supports millions of people all over the world who often have no other access to employment. Because of this, if you’re particularly interested in the ethics of your jewellery, we would tend to recommend choosing a carefully mined gemstone over a synthetic one.

We’re always really pleased to talk to customers about any of their ethical concerns- if we haven’t answered your questions here just ask us.