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Emerald jewellery and ethical of origin:
Most of the time when we buy emerald jewellery in Australia, we are so busy thinking about its quality and territorial origin, that we forget other factors that definitely add value to your engagement ring or your wedding anniversary ring. For this reason, today we want to indicate the 5 steps you must follow to buy emeralds of ethical origin.
When we speak of value, we are not referring to price, and it is important to make this distinction since many times these concepts are so confused that many people end up thinking that we are talking about the same thing. Actually, we are referring to that positive quality that occurs due to the essence and social background that hides every precious stone that comes into your hands.
So, let’s forget for a moment the issue of quality, carats, size, colour, etc., and we are going to focus on what almost nobody talks about, business morale and good principles when it comes to of mining and trading a precious stone.
Global mining is a thorny issue, it is no longer a secret that due to different practices in the mining sector, whether individual or corporate, many people have been viewed negatively. In some parts of the world, not in all, artisanal mining, as well as industrial mining, have historically been dangerous, not only for people due to the latent possibility of occupational risks and accidents but also for the environment, due to the contamination of high impact on rivers and other ecosystems.
In the social sphere, the world has even come to know cases of mining slavery. But without going to the extremes, and being somewhat conservative, in these places, the best of the cases involved bad days, excessive work, lack of social security, local violence and lack of corporate and State attention.
The poor working conditions that many miners or “guaqueros” have faced, put on the table, the need to establish moral parameters, that help define a corporate ethic, that looks after the trade goods of those who intervene in each part of the process, starting with those who came into their lives, to obtain the precious stones that we long for.
This is how the concept of “Emeralds of Ethical Origin” was born, which also performs surgery, local and international organisations, interested in guiding the emerald industry so that it can be based on personally affected moral principles.
In Colombia, there is the National Federation of Emeralds of Colombia (Fedesmeraldas in Spanish), whose mission is to represent and defend the ethical principles of the industry, to ensure that all the formal actors that belong to it, comply fully with the guidelines of respect and attention of the basic needs in the guild.
Its mission is to invest resources and apply principles of transparency and honesty that help carry out community and social development initiatives, and thus break the cycle of corporate misconduct that has tainted large-scale mining over the decades.
Thanks to the work of organisations such as Fedesmeraldas, emeralds are produced in Colombia free of all kinds of conflicts, which means that the final buyer of a Colombian emerald can eventually confirm if its purchase is socially responsible, that is if its acquisition it is ethical.
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That said, we want to mention 5 steps you must follow to buy emeralds of ethical origin.
- Check the jeweller’s website: A decent emerald marketer will always include detailed information about the origin of your gemstones. He will also talk about their traceability process, their participation in it and, of course, their level of corporate social responsibility.
- Identify the country of origin: As we speak of the most desired green stone in the world, we must also speak of the countries with the best and most productive mines on the planet. The eyes of the world watch over these countries and therefore try to be exempt from problems such as exploitation and worker slavery. Confirm that your emerald comes from Colombia in the first instance, then Brazil and finally from Zambia. He distrusts other African countries that have failed to overcome the issue of labour exploitation of their miners.|
- Ask the right questions: These questions are natural and necessary, and should not be uncomfortable for the seller, so if you notice something irritated by your questions, take it as a reason for alert and you can start to mistrust. If, on the contrary, he responds fluently and appropriately, that would be a sign of authority and knowledge.
- Request the certificate of origin and traceability: The certificates are gemological reports that delve into the details of the jewellery, and are issued by different laboratories and authorities in the matter. In the case of our emeralds, you will receive a Class “A” certificate, from International Gemological laboratories.
- Claim your guarantee: A jeweller that is able to offer you a product guarantee is a jeweller that surely has a defined and strengthened traceability structure from its first productive link. The guarantee is a sign of reliability and respect for the client, which supports the argument of respect and honesty with the workers on their team.
Do you think ethics is a vital value when we buy a jewel? Tell us in the comment box, how you verified the ethical origin of your jewellery before going to this blog!
