Love is in the Fair(trade) and it’s gold

The most romantic day of the year has been and gone but Valentines Day 2011 was like no other. No, Opulent Ethics was not inundated with sacks of cards, chocolates and roses…something much better happened. Yes, that’s right; Fairtrade and Fairmined gold finally arrived in the UK.

It has been a long journey for Fairtrade gold from leaving home in the Cotapata Mine, the worlds first Fairtrade mine, in Bolivia to arriving in the UK. Whilst some of us were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold many others were not even aware it was on its way. So Opulent Ethics have had a look at the welcome reception that the UK offered.

World's first Fairtrade Fairmined gold bar with hallmarks

The Daily Mail spoke at length about how Fairtrade gold will help stop the exploitation of some of the worlds most vulnerable communities by helping mines ensure they reach certain standard conditions. The only problem is that it is not so simple to change your local mine overnight. Hopefully the Cotapata Mine will be an inspiration to others to follow suit.

The Ecologist tried to focus on the future and mentioned some of the big names such as Ingle & Rhode and Garrards who have signed up to become license holders and work with the gold.

The full list of those who are now licensed to work using the Fairtrade gold can be found on the site of the Jewellery Editor.

It was all finance, facts and figures in The Telegraph as they concentrated on how the Fairtrade food revolution worked and whether the gold can carry on the trend.

The Independent looked at which celebrities we can expect to see wearing Fairtrade gold jewellery (Livia Firth is rumoured to be intending to wear it on the red carpet at the Oscars).

And finally, Kate Carter, ethical extraordinaire with The Guardian, let rip with a long piece on the real intention of all Fairtrade products; to stop the abject horror faced by those who get us our coffee, bananas and now gold.

It is nice to see that, despite the story not gaining as much attention as it deserves that it has been done some justice!

That’s all for now….

Birmingham becomes ethically Brilliant!

So Brilliantly Birmingham has come to an end but not before a great talk on ethical jewellery was held. The talk, titled “Jewellery Ethics; Making and Buying” didn’t seem to stick to what it said on the tin but in this case, that was not necessarily a bad thing.

 Brilliantly Birmingham poster

Even before anyone began talking the line-up was like a who’s who of ethical celebrity. On the panel was Vivien Johnston the founder of ethical company Fifi Bijoux, Jack Cunningham the Head of Birmingham’s School of Jewellery, Sara Preisler a Birmingham based sculptural jeweller, Fairtrade Foundation representative Greg Valerio and the panel was led by Kate Carter, The Guardian’s ethical fashion extraordinaire.

Each gave a lecture on their backgrounds, interests and how and why they are interested in ethics before a question session was opened up to the public. Vivien Johnston spoke about how she took ethical practices into account when considering her business plan as she set Fifi Bijoux up. We here at Opulent Ethics think that considering our ethical beliefs as we set up our business rather than as an add on at a later date is integral to being a successful ethical jeweller and we hope that this business advice will stand us in good stead when Opulent Ethics is fully set up.

Fifi Bijoux bangle

Fifi Bijoux is an aspirational brand which encourages its consumers to buy into their story. Having spent time sourcing materials for another company Vivien Johnston was determined that all materials used in Fifi Bijoux’s pieces would be traceable, of a high standard and have a chain of custody which can be validated. Ms Johnston founded the British Ethical Jewellery Association as a way of forcing ethics in jewellery into the mainstream.

Jack Cunningham played devil’s advocate by talking about how the jewellery industry as a whole is the dirtiest industry going and that all jewellers know this. Opulent Ethics felt that this was an interesting point which deserved to be made and, coming from a jeweller who is not yet ethical, it reiterates the fact that ethics as an issue is rising and soon, no-one in the industry will be able to shy away from it.

Next, Sara Preisler went on to discuss what beauty is. Obviously the answer to this is personal to us all but Sara Preisler made a very interesting point about why beauty surrounds preciousness and asked who decides gold and diamonds are precious? She went on to suggest that, by individual jewellers and consumers moving away from bling then we may make a change in how materials are considered. Opulent Ethics are currently experimenting with this idea by using vegetable ivory in their next range. We will let you know how we get on!

Sara Preisler cufflinks

Finally, Greg Valerio spoke very passionately about how the Fair Trade movement is a good economic response to social injustice and that, whilst being helpful, recycling is not the full answer. Greg Valerio made a very interesting point about how the jewellery industry is very good at producing beautiful items whilst hiding the horror which is experienced at source. It led Opulent Ethics to think about what impact there would be on consumer opinion if we knew in detail about the destruction and terror which allows our jewellery to be produced. Opulent Ethics are now more determined than ever to be 100% ethical in our practices.

He also went on to talk about the Fair Trade Gold Hallmark which will be released in February (for Valentines Day) and how this is a massive step forward as there are now clearly defined standards which can be downloaded from the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation website. He also spoke about the plan to have 25 tonnes of Fair Trade gold sold in the UK over the next 15 years. For anyone who is interested in registering to use the Hallmark contact Victoria Waugh ( gold@fairtrade.org.uk ) for details.

So the overall message from this Brilliantly Birmingham talk is that ethical jewellery now has the start of a fairy tale story which can and will be pushed forward. Fair Trade gold is going to be all over the place in the run up to the release of the Hallmark so watch this space for more information.

So Happy New Year and that’s all for now….   

Brilliantly Birmingham brings ethics to the table

Brilliantly Birmingham 2010 advert

Brilliantly Birmingham is an International contemporary jewellery festival which is now in its 11^th year showcasing talent and initiating discussion on topics which affect the jewellery industry. Brilliantly Birmingham originated in 1999 as somewhere that local jewellers and talent could come together with a shared interest. Now, in 2010, Brilliantly Birmingham is offering a mixture of exhibitions, workshops, talks and special events.

The reason that we are writing about Brilliantly Birmingham, apart from to help advertise it, is to draw attention to their decision to bring ethics to the agenda. One of the 4 talks being planned during the event this year is “Jewellery Ethics; Making and buying”.

Bringing together Fifi Bijoux (who produce luxury ethical jewellery), Kate Carter (the life and style editor, specialising in ethical fashion for The Guardian), Sara Preisler (a Birmingham based jeweller), Jack Cunningham (the Head of the School of Jewellery in Birmingham and a narrative jeweller) and a representative from the Fair Trade Foundation, this talk is billed as a conversational session offering thoughts and opinions on ethical jewellery matters.

It is a positive development to see ethics being broached by the largest jewellery-specific fair in the Midlands. The talk does, however, sound a little weak in its purpose. The topic “Making and buying” promises some information on how to turn yourself more ethical but it does not sound like the information provided will be particularly new. We here at Opulent Ethics hope to be proved wrong.

The involvement of the Fair Trade Foundation is exciting as they will be having further involvement with the jewellery industry as ethics become more mainstream. Opulent Ethics look forward to hearing what they bring to the conversation.

We are also looking forward to hearing from Fifi Bijoux who has been producing ethical fine jewellery since 2006 and is one of the leading ethical jewellers in the UK. They donate profits to numerous worthy causes in Africa and display their transparent supply chain for all to see.

It is always a positive thing to see ethics being brought to the table at national and international meetings and shows and Opulent Ethics hopes that Brilliantly Birmingham, which runs from November 27^th 2010 until the 9^th January 2011, manages to steer ethics into the limelight within the Birmingham Jewellery Industry and helps keep it there for the future.

That’s all for now….