New Report Confirms Failure of Kimberley Process

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), the body created to give consumers peace of mind that conflict diamonds were not reaching the market, has failed.

A new report released by Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) states that the failure of the KPCS is not caused by warlords, but by the governments at the center of the KPCS’ administration that refuse to crack down on smuggling, human right abuses and money laundering.

Accountability is cited as the primary reason why KPCS has been unsuccessful.

The report specifically identifies the massacre of more than 200 diamond diggers in Zimbabwe that should have resulted in the country losing its KPCS status, but that was largely ignored by the organization.

Read full article on National Jeweler here.

Debate about ‘Fair Trade Gems’ continues

In his article titled “Columbia Gem House Attempts to Trade-Mark “Fair Trade Gems, ” author Marc Choyt writes:

“‘Fair Trade Gems’ has the potential to be as big a market driver as fair trade coffee has become within ten to twenty years.  If any one company monopolizes the trademark for this term, it will become an irreparable hindrance to growth and prosperity in some of the poorest villages in the world. The open-inclusive option is a far-better choice for everyone involved in the ethical sourcing community.”

Though Columbia Gem House is widely respected for their pioneering work in bringing ethically sourced gems to the market, it would be counter to the sustainable jewelry movement if they were awarded the exclusive rights to the term “fair trade gem.” It would significantly restrict the ability of other companies, also doing great work with regard to gem sourcing, to effectively bring their product to market, which will in turn hurt the artisanl miners. Columbia Gem House is not the only supplier of fair trade gems.

Read the full article now.

Sulusso Launches – making sustainable jewelry accessible

Sulusso.com launched last week as the best place online to learn about and shop sustainable fine jewelry. All of the featured designers on Sulusso have one thing in common – a commitment to social and environmental responsibility.

C5 company is one such company whose ready-to-wear pieces will be available on the site as well as well-known designers Gary Ptak, Dawes Design, Alberto Parada and Okomido. Ten designers and more than 100 products are already represented.

Sulusso is a curated site whereby designers must meet certain sustainability criteria in order to participate. Companies deemed sustainable by Sulusso may be defined by the following:

Materials

• Uses recycled, reclaimed, or fair-trade metals
• Purchases gems from artisanal miners or companies that adhere to fair trade principles
• Uses reclaimed or estate diamonds and gems
• Uses ethically-sourced diamonds and gems
• Uses diamonds and gems that are traceable from mine to market
• Buys locally sourced materials when possible

Labor

• Pays fair wages based in local economy
• Offers a healthy work environment
• Employs only age appropriate people based on the culture

Shipping

• Uses recycled packaging
• Works to reduce amount of packaging
• Minimizes product shipping

Operations

• Uses recycled or eco-friendly paper
• Minimizes amount of printed materials
• Recycles and disposes of waste properly
• Works to reduce energy usage
• Supports other local and/or sustainable businesses
• Minimizes travel (other than by food, bike or skateboard)
• Donates time and resources to community development organizations
• Works to become more socially and environmentally responsible
• Is ethical in dealings with all stakeholders

HowYouEco’s ‘5 Minute Eco’ discusses sustainable jewelry

I am so appreciative of the opportunity to discuss sustainable jewelry on HowYouEco’s ‘5 Minute Eco’ radio show. In the segment, I discuss the myth of conflict-free diamonds and provide helpful tips to consumers.

Listen to the show.

The showed aired on October 1, which is the same day I launched my second company, Sulusso. Sulusso (means ‘On Luxury’ in Italian) is the best place online to purchase sustainable, designer jewelry.

Fair-trade Jewelry – still no formal definition

Our good friend, Marc Choyt, at Reflective Images, an ethical jewelry company, recently published an article on AreaGreen.com where he provides insight for consumers into some of the challenges of bring fair-trade to the jewelry sector.

Marc makes several good points worth highlighting:

1. The existing models of fair-trade (eg. coffee) don’t really fit into the global jewelry framework.
2. Fair trade jewelry needs to go beyond the raw materials to include manufacturing.
3. Though “fair trade jewelry” is a commonly used term, there is no universal definition or formal certification.
4. Transparency is probably more relevant to conscious consumers than fair-trade designation.
5. There is a small community of passionate jewelry professionals (including Marc and me) who are involved in the efforts to bring third party cerfication to the jewelry industry.

Please read the full article.

Another luxury expert calls for sustainability

In his opinion piece that recently appeared on Luxury Society, Jeffrey Hutchison joins a growing list of luxury experts calling for sustainability in the luxury sector.

“We must look for significant ways to minimize the industry’s impact on the world’s resources, and it takes more than simply installing a bamboo floor to satisfy this objective. Looking at the organization’s construction and operational practices can facilitate a real green strategy,” said Hutchison.

He concluded by saying that “embracing sustainability and crafting a new face of luxury need not be at odds; indeed by exploring ways to achieve both simultaneously an exciting new era of of design can be borne.”

Jeffrey Hutchison is the founder of Jeffrey Hutchison & Associates, a luxury retail design firm. He has consulted Barney’s New York, Theory, Nautica and Ralph Lauren among other international brands.

Don’t Boycott African Diamonds…At Least Not All.

[Asking about traceability is more important than country of origin.]

In July, Ian Smillie, one of the founders of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a volunteer program that certifies diamonds as conflict-free, stepped away from KPCS. In his resignation, he stated that he could no longer be associated with the organization.

A few weeks after Smillie’s unexpected announcement, a group of NGO organizations came out saying that they were declining participation in KPCS.

Concurrent with the fall of the Kimberley Process was the increase of quality diamonds from Canada. On the surface, purchasing diamonds from Canada seemed like a good solution for conscious consumers desperate to avoid diamonds contributing to armed conflict in Africa’s developing nations.

But though the Kimberley Process is failing, boycotting diamonds from Africa is not the answer. In so doing, you are actually hurting the people you seek to protect. The diamond industry has the power to lift communities and whole nations out of poverty by providing necessary economic opportunities.

Most diamonds coming out of Canada are not cut and polished in country. That means that the diamonds are being shipped around the globe to places like Africa and India and that there are more middle men involved as the diamond goes from mine to market.

While still a minor percentage of all diamond production, there are diamonds coming out of Africa that may just be the most socially responsible option. When diamonds are cut and polished in the communities from which they are extracted, jobs are created and the community receives the economic benefit associated with the natural resources. Rather than ask their jeweler if the diamonds are African, consumers  should ask about the traceability of the diamond from mine to market. Where they are cut and polished is just as important as where they are mined.

Kimberley Process Failing – conflict widespread in diamond industry

“The Kimberley Process has been confronted by many challenges in the past five years, and it has failed to deal quickly or effectively with most of them: smuggling and fraud in Brazil, and issues of even greater importance in Côte d’Ivoire/Ghana, Guyana, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and now Guinea and Lebanon.”

The above is a quote from Ian Smillie, the driving force behind Partnership Africa-Canada (PAC), the immensely influential conflict diamonds NGO, who recently announced his departure from participation in the KP governing bodies. 

Ian is one of the founders and architects of the rough diamond certification  mechanism and has earned the respect and trust of all sides. “I am leaving Partnership Africa-Canada (PAC) because I feel that I can no longer in good faith contribute to a pretense that failure is success, or to the kind of debates we have been reduced to,” he says in a farewell letter to KP members. 

Read the full article on Diamond Intelligence Briefs, the online publication of Tacy Ltd, a strategic consultancy serving the stakeholders of the international diamond industry.

Ian’s announcement is an unfortunate blow to the sustainable jewelry movement.

NBC forms relationship with unethical jeweler

As part of NBCs “Green is Universal” campaign the crown placed on the winner of the Miss USA pageant, which aired on NBC earlier this week, was made by Diamond Nexus Labs.

NBC seems to be very proud of its new relationship with a jewelry company they can claim is “eco-friendly,” but it appears that NBC did nothing to determine if that is actually true. Is NBC color blind?

The thing we don’t understand is how the crown can be considered “green.” Our research uncovered nothing about the metals used, the environmental practices of Diamond Nexus Labs or about the diamonds themselves. In fact, the information on the DNL website about their diamonds makes it clear that they are just simulants…not lab-grown diamonds.

As we have stated in previous posts, lab-grown diamonds are indeed genuine diamonds that have been created in a lab, rather than in nature. Simulants are plain fake.

Diamond Nexus labs employs grossly unethical marketing practices. They lead people into believing that they are purchasing real, lab-grown diamonds. They do produce genuine, lab-grown rubies, emeralds and sapphires, but according to their website, Diamond Nexus Labs does not produce lab-grown diamonds.

Read about lab-grown diamonds here.

Visit www.C5company.com for more information about sustainable fine jewelry.

Call for boycott of ‘blood jade’ at the Olympics

We try not to overwhelm by posting too often, but this is just too timely. We just learned that the Beijing Olympic medals are made of Jade and given that we wrote about Burmese Jade and Rubies this morning, thought we share this article from Merinews.com. It is too long to post in its entirety, but here is an excerpt:

“The growing demand for jade from Myanmar is a worrying factor and the Olympic promotion of jade will only heighten the demand from Myanmarese mines. Activists fear that the junta will use the money from jade to purchase weapons and continue to suppress dissent unless people around the world take a stand and boycott it.”

Read the full article here.