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….

London Jewellery Week set to be spiced up with an "Essence" of ethics

London Jewellery Week, the UK’s biggest jewellery event, will be running from 6^th – 12^th June this year and it looks like 2011 will be the biggest Jewellery Week to date.

A glimpse of what will be on show at London Jewellery Week

London Jewellery Week is always a mass of innovative, new design, beautiful pieces of body adornment, established and new and up and coming names and jewellery, jewellery, jewellery! But it is really great to see that an entire section of this London-wide event is being given over to ethical jewellery. In the same way that London Fashion Week has Esthetica, London Jewellery Week now has Essence as part of Treasure.

Following on from the release of Fairtrade gold on Valentine’s Day this year Essence will be showcasing the latest Fairtrade gold designers and makers. But, more excitingly, there will also be some of the miners who work to bring us this amazing gold in attendance.

Make sure you go along to show your support, like Opulent Ethics will be, and to view the latest in jewellery trends and fashions.

That’s all for now….

Could Fairtrade diamonds soon be on your jewellery wish-list?

There is mention of a prospective exciting new Fairtrade development in Greg Valerio’s latest blog post! Having just been named as one of the 3 shortlisted entrants in the Global Campaigner section of The Observer’s Ethical Awards 2011, Greg has begun to conquer the Fairtrade and Fairmined gold world after years of tireless campaigning and developmental work. And now Greg seems to have set his sights on diamonds!



Could diamonds become Fairtrade?



Opulent Ethics have previously talked about the Kimberley Process and how it is not living up to its word in our “Is the Kimberley Process ruining Zimbabwe and can it ever work?” post from 31^st October 2010. At the time Opulent Ethics questioned whether, after making devastating decisions such as allowing Zimbabwean Marange Field Diamonds to be sold with Kimberley Process backing, it would ever be able to recover and whether the Kimberley Process could ever be trusted by retailers the world over.

Under the ideas being proposed by Greg Valerio certain diamond cooperatives would come under the auspices of the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation. In order to achieve Fairtrade certification it is expected that diamond miners would have to reach similar rigorous standards to those attained by Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold mines in South America.

This would include transparency throughout the entire supply chain, equal pay for all, improved working conditions, assurances that the environment being mined is not being exploited and that once mining ceases that the area will be returned to a natural, sustainable locale. Of course, any Fairtrade development would only work with small-scale mining communities rather than large-scale mining companies and the additional Fairtrade premiums paid would go back into improving community infrastructure and conditions.

So is this all possible and could it ever provide ethically minded jewellers and consumers with the peace of mind they want? Well I am sure that Greg and others were wondering whether Fairtrade gold would ever be possible 10 years ago and look at it now; being worn on the Oscars Red Carpet by Olivia Firth and then being sold by Christies for Oxfam for £25,000, having some of the top jewellers in the UK signed up as Fairtrade Gold License Holders and having its own Hallmark.



Fairtrade and Fairmined gold bar which was unveiled on Feb 14th 2011



So Opulent Ethics believe 100% that Fairtrade diamonds can, and will be achieved. It will just take lots more hard work and campaigning from all involved. Good luck Greg!

That’s all for now….

Silver; can it ever become an ethical metal?

There is plenty of information around about how gold and diamonds can be ethical. In recent years the term “blood diamonds” has become a household phrase and this year “Fairtrade” and “Fairmined gold” has joined it. But what is it that makes gold and diamonds ethical? And can we ever expect to see silver join this very exclusive group?

Silver

The jewellery industry is well known as a destructive, dirty business which uses a massive percentage of the world’s energy and is one of the largest employers but still pollutes, kills and maims the environment and peoples involved.

Both diamonds and gold have been able to make steps towards becoming ethical due to two main points:

Third party certification has been established to police the processes involved in mining and refining the materials and the checking the supply chain from earth to product. This is the Kimberley Process for diamonds and the Association for Responsible Mining combined with the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation for Fairtrade and Fairmined gold.

These materials are highly priced meaning that those who can afford to use the material are already spending a lot of money. Any additional Fairtrade premiums added onto this can be passed onto the consumer quite easily as products which contain gold and diamonds will already have a high price.

Silver prices have been relatively low in recent years meaning that additional premiums on top may discourage use of the material. However, over the past few months, the price of silver has also been rising making it a much more costly product than the same time last year. Perhaps this increased price may make silver as an ethical material more possible.

Silver is not mined on its own. Generally, silver is mined as a by-product of copper, gold and zinc mines. It was estimated in 2008 that only 30% of silver is mined from silver specific mines. As well as this, silver is not used with the same exclusivity as gold is within the jewellery industry. It is estimated that 80% of all gold mined ends up being used to produce jewellery. Compared to this, silver is used in industrial, medical and technological fields. Only 25% of silver is used for jewellery and silverware.

These two things combined mean that there is not the same amount of money put into silver as gold and diamonds making it less likely for the amount of time and money required to source materials more ethically to be put in.

Currently recycled silver is the most ethical source of silver and this is currently what Opulent Ethics use but we are hoping that this may change in time. Once it has been proved that gold can be mined in less harmful and more sustainable ways then, hopefully, this will percolate down to mining other materials including silver.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for these developments soon.

That’s all for now….

Opulent Ethics starts a new glittering gold journey

It will be a short entry today.

Opulent Ethics are just starting out on our journey to become a license holder for Fair Trade gold. We are currently unsure of the processes involved in gaining the Fairtrade and Fairmined gold license and how long it will take.

We will, however, let you know as we go along what we have to do and how we are getting on so that anyone else who is considering becoming a license holder may have an idea of what to do.

So far we have registered our interest in becoming a license holder by downloading and completing the Business Overview Questionnaire on the Fairtrade Foundation’s website.

We will post updates on what and when we have to do things as they happen.

That’s all for now….