The ethical jewellery cemetery is full of tombstones of good intentions, inscribed with the words: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (i.e. “the more that changes, the more it’s the same thing”).
In recent years, evolving consumer demands and concerns over ‘conflict’ diamonds and minerals have coincided with the emergence of a powerful data-tracking approach known as ‘blockchain.’ This technology, in development since the 1980s, anchors a core tenant of ethical sourcing: traceability and transparency.
The true historical context of the term ‘responsibility’ as it pertains to jewellery sourcing can be traced back, at least partially, to the diamond industry’s response to blood diamonds.
In “Sourcing ‘responsible’ diamonds: Where morality meets storytelling,” Marc Choyt and Kyle Abram discuss marketing narratives as they pertain to jewellery sourcing, unpacking the complicated relationship between the diamond industry and Russian mining groups.
Today’s jewellers widely recognize caring for the future is in their best interest—namely because millennials and gen-Z consumers tend to shop their values.
Completely cleansing the global diamond industry of blood, corruption, and conflict is no easy feat, and few are more familiar with this challenge than Ian Smillie.
Currently, mining for product used to make jewellery continues just as it always has, with large-scale mines supplying 80 per cent of gold and diamonds and extracting resources as fast as possible.
Have you read Marc Choyt’s feature, ‘A dream deferred: Ethical gold in North America,’ published in our May issue? You won’t want to miss his followup article, ‘The sustainability trap.’
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