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Wednesday 7 August 2013

HOW TO SOURCE AN ETHICAL ENGAGEMENT RING

'Tis the season of weddings, colours, tears and glamour. The "ring" is an integral part of any union. It requires a lot of wallet searching. Sophie McBain(@SEMcBain) gives us tips on how to source an "Ethical Engagement Ring".

Two years before we got engaged, I dragged my boyfriend David around the swankiest jewellers on New Bond Street, forcing him to pretend to be my fiancĂ© so I could quiz jewellers on blood diamonds and illegal Burmese rubies. I wanted to research this for a piece (in the end it wasn’t published) and was horrified by how some of the most well-established names in the jewellery industry weren’t able to answer my questions about where their gold, diamonds and gem stones came from, or how they were mined.
So when David proposed with a ring (a ruby set in diamonds) from ethical, fair trade jeweller Ingle & Rhode, I was impressed with his thoughtfulness, not to mention his wiliness — he spent five months designing the ring in secret before surprising me with it— and I’m touched he remembered how important it was to me that the ring was ethically sourced.
It’s something I feel really strongly about – and I know others do, too – so I asked David Rhode, director of Ingle & Rhode, for his advice on sourcing ethical engagement and wedding rings. (You could also use this to nudge a special someone in the right direction – there must be more subtle hints than forcing your boyfriend to pose as your fiancĂ© while you investigate the diamond trade.)

Ethical engagement rings from Ingle & Rhode. Gemstone rings start from £1,200 and diamond rings start from about £1,500 (both prices include VAT)
Gold
Metal mining can be environmentally damaging, and miners are not always granted a fair wage or adequate health and safety provisions. One way around this is by ensuring your ring is made out of recycled (ask your the jeweller) or fair trade gold (http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/gold/ fair trade gold will be certified and should have a stamp on it)
Diamonds
The film Blood Diamonds raised awareness of how the diamond trade has fuelled conflict, but this isn’t the full story. Following the Kimberley Process, so-called blood or conflict diamonds should no longer be on sale anywhere (although its effectiveness has been questioned), but even non-conflict diamonds may use dangerous and environmentally damaging mining methods and be mined by under-paid workers. There are no fair trade African diamonds yet, but Canadian diamonds are a good bet (they tend to be 5-10 per cent more expensive than African diamonds.)
Coloured gems
Just as with diamonds and gold, gemstone mines can be dangerous places, with reports of poor wages and poor human rights records. How miners are treated varies from mine to mine and researching this is difficult (David has clients who have sourced their stones directly from mines they have visited while on holiday) so ideally, you should ask a reputable jeweller to do it for you, which brings me on to my next point...
Finding ethical jewellers
"Fundamentally it’s all about traceability, it’s about knowing where your materials are from," says David. "Your jeweller should be able to tell you exactly where the stones and metals in your ring are from – and vague assurances about ‘reputable suppliers’ or the ‘Kimberley Process’ won’t cut it."
Here is a list of jewellers who can offer ethical assurances - please feel free to post your own recommendations in the comments below.
Ingle and Rhode
14 Gees Court, St Christopher's Place, London
Fifi Bijoux
69 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 3HL
Brilliant Earth
26 O’Farrell Street, 10th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108, US
Cred Jewellery
41 South Street, Chichester, P019 1EL
Ciao Bellas xoxo

Photo Source: http://www.stylist.co.uk/weddings/wedding-blog/how-to-source-an-ethical-engagement-ring

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