Birmingham meets its most precious visitors; the Oro Verde gold team

This week has seen a Fairtrade gold competition taking place at Birmingham City University’s School of Jewellery in collaboration between the school and the Oro Verde green gold programme. And today has been the most illusionary, informative and amazing day for the competition and for Opulent Ethics.

On Monday the brief was given out to students at the School of Jewellery along with presentations about Fair Trade, the impact of mining, the Oro Verde programme and industry developments and tomorrow is the deadline for designs. So we will be waiting with baited breath to see what fantastic designs we receive.

But back to today; as part of London Jewellery Week’s Essence section three esteemed guests have been invited to visit the UK from Colombia and we were lucky enough to convince them to visit Birmingham as part of their whirlwind tour.

Claudia Vallejo, Sandra Hernandez Garrido and Americo Masquero viewing an
Assay Punch at the Birmingham Assay Office

 

Luis Americo Mosquera is an artisanal miner from the Choco Bioregion of Colombia. He is the head of one of seven families which work a mine in the region and share the profits between them. He has been mining the area for 45 years and works the mine with his son, daughter and extended family. The mine is one of the biggest involved in the Oro Verde programme and is on land which was owned by Americo’s parents and grandparents.

Sandra Hernandez Garrido works for Amichoco and heads up the Oro Verde Commercial Unit. As well as working for the Non-Government Organisation which has helped develop and promote the Oro Verde programme she was also our very talented and fluent translator for the day.

Claudia Vallejo is also from Colombia and is a traditionally trained jeweller who runs her business, Biojoy from Bogota. She spent time studying artistic design at Massana in Barcelona before taking this home and translating it into designs which would work in Colombia.

The first stop for our group was the Birmingham Assay Office where we were given background information on the history and standing of the assay office today. Assay Office representatives met with and listened to Americo as he explained how he and his fellow workers mine the land using traditional methods to supply the UK with the world’s only ecologically mined Fairtrade gold.

We then went on a tour of the impressive facilities of the Assay Office. We were shown the stamp room and were given demonstrations of the different types of punches used by jewellers, silversmiths, retailers and manufacturers throughout the UK. But the best bit of the tour happened in the laser room at the Assay Office where our guests were shown and presented with personalised cards of the stamps which are available at the Assay Office including the Fairtrade / Fairmined gold mark and its ecological Fairtrade / Fairmined gold counterpart.

Claudia tries her hand at assay marking some jewellery

Americo with his personalised card of Assay Office punches including the
new Fairtrade / Fairmined and Ecological Fairtrade / Fairmined gold marks 

Close up of one of the assay cards with the Fairtrade marks at the bottom

After this wonderful tour we then rushed across the Jewellery Quarter to the Museum where we were, very kindly, given a private tour of the old Smith and Pepper factory which makes up the museum. It was really inspiring to watch Claudia here as she was fascinated to see pieces of machinery that she uses in her studio at home stuck in the factory time warp. The group also learnt something of the British class system which didn’t allow staff to mix with customers of female workers to operate any of the heavy machinery.

Next we moved onto the School of Jewellery where students who wish to enter the competition were invited to meet and question the Colombian guests in order to help inspire them further. And this time it was not just questions about Americo’s work but also Claudia was asked about how she designs and creates her pieces.

Much to the amazement of us spoilt UK jewellers (and we include ourselves here) we learnt how Claudia alloys and forms her own metal from pure gold. This is something which is not really considered in the UK jewellery industry as we are able to purchase materials as sheet, wire, tube or casting grain quickly and easily. Claudia also spoke of how her designs are influenced by her work at the bench and how she lets her hands influence the outcome of her pieces. This is definitely a very different way of designing when compared with how many of us sit down with a sketch book or computer design software and draw our ideas rather than letting the materials we work with inform us.

After this Q & A session in amongst the hustle and bustle of the School, which is preparing for the students final show next week, we then took a quick tour of the School facilities in order to convey to our guests how the students work and study and the exciting machinery and technologies which are available to them. Hopefully this provided a more comprehensive insight into the processes many of us use when manufacturing our jewellery and silversmithing pieces.

And finally, we visited Weston Beamor, one of the few companies in the UK who are licensed to cast using the Fairtrade / Fairmined gold. Here we discussed both sides’ experiences of the supply chain so far and hopes for the future.

All in all it was a very informative and full day which was, hopefully, as enjoyable for our guests as it was for those of us who took part in showing them round.

So thank you to all who were involved; the School of Jewellery, the Birmingham Assay Office, the Jewellery Quarter Museum and Weston Beamor. But most of all thank you to three very inspirational people. Americo; thank you for believing that the region where you live is special and diverse and did not deserve to be destroyed by large scale mining companies but that it should be cherished and preserved for your families to come. Thank you also to Sandra for working so tirelessly and hard to help ensure that what started as a small operation has now grown into a sector of the industry which provides an acceptable alternative to dirtier materials. And finally, thank you to Claudia who was so inspirational and positive about working with this new and exciting material. We think that her passion is so contagious that not one person who met her today would deny that Oro Verde gold is anything but an amazing material: the most loved gold in the world!

If you want any more information about Oro Verde gold see the Oro Verde website by clicking here. There is also information on the Fair Labelling Organisations involvement here.

So, after a very informative day; that’s all for now….

Opulent Ethics’ pomanders get the golden touch

Over the past few months Opulent Ethics have been designing, manufacturing and marketing our precious pomander range. And the final one will be the first to be constructed over 90% in Oro Verde gold.

Oro Verde gold pomander

Having worked with Oro Verde gold previously during our Eveoire range where we loved the outcome, we decided it was time to expand our use of this beautiful material. So, our most precious pomander will be constructed almost entirely from Oro Verde gold.

And so far, all looks well for this most exquisite piece. Opulent Ethics are looking forward to seeing the final outcome. Hopefully it’ll be ready in the next few days!

That’s all for now….

Oro Verde gold competition coming to Birmingham School of Jewellery

Students at Birmingham City University’s School of Jewellery will have a golden opportunity to take part in an exciting competition next week. The collaborative competition is being run jointly by the University and Oro Verde as a way of increasing knowledge of and interest in Fair Trade gold.

BCU School of Jewellery

Ami Choco region

The competition winners will have their designs promoted through Oro Verde and there is a chance that the pieces may be produced by artisanal crafts people from the Oro Verde community in Columbia.

Included in the competition briefing, which takes part next week, will be a visit by representatives from the Choco Bioregion who are in the UK for London Jewellery Week. As part of their trip they will visit Birmingham for a tour of the jewellery quarter and the School of Jewellery as well as meeting the students who are taking part.

And if that wasn’t exciting enough, there will be some well known names on the judging panel too!

Keep an eye out here for information on how the competition is running throughout next week.

That’s all for now….