From cotton to coffee, there’s an ever-increasing demand to know where our purchases come from. Yet when it comes to fine jewellery, tracing the origin of gold or gemstones is much more difficult than it sounds.
Gold is endlessly recycled: melted down, refined and recast over and over again. Usually, old gold is mixed in with freshly mined material, which could have come from a huge industrial operation in Nevada, or it might have been unearthed by a child working in an illegal, unsafe pit in South America. By the time it reaches a jeweller’s bench, there’s no way of knowing where it originated.
The situation for diamonds and gemstones isn’t much clearer: rough stones are traditionally grouped and sold by weight and quality, rather than by origin. After they’ve been cut, polished and passed through the hands of several dealers, all trace of their origin has been lost. But the situation is slowly changing, thanks to a few leaders in the field who are demonstrating that it is possible to achieve a fully traceable supply chain, from mine to finished piece of jewellery.
Boodles is one such company. Winner of British Luxury Brand of the Year at the 2023 Walpole Awards, the family-run British house is the first Bond Street jeweller to switch its entire production to Single Mine Origin (SMO) gold, which originates from a single, sustainably run mine.
All SMO gold comes from one of two mines – the Ity mine in Cote d’Ivoire and the Yanfolila Mine in Mali – which have been independently assessed as leaders in responsible mining. These mines don’t just adhere to industry standards; they go beyond them when it comes to safety, employee welfare, community benefits and environmental impact. Gold from these mines is segregated and kept separate throughout the supply chain, avoiding the risk of contamination, so that the jewellers who craft it into rings, bracelets and necklaces can do so knowing that it caused no harm to people or the planet.
A third mine in Guinea will soon be certified as meeting SMO’s strict sustainability standards – and Jody Wainwright, Boodles’ Director of Diamonds and Precious Gemstones, will be there for the official launch. “I have long followed the journey of SMO: I believe in their goals and values, specifically when it comes to ensuring that the gold mining process benefits the miners themselves,” says Jody. Since 2021, every piece of Boodles jewellery – from its iconic Raindance rings to the latest one-of-a-kind high jewellery creation – is crafted using this good gold. Customers can scan a QR code to learn about the specific origin of their gold and the projects that are in place around the mine to protect nature and the local communities.
QR codes were a distant vision in 1905, when the Cullinan diamond, the largest rough diamond ever discovered, was unearthed in South Africa’s Premier mine. It would have been difficult, though, to misplace the 3,106-carat stone, which was cut and polished into nine mammoth diamonds, the largest of which now adorn the Crown Jewels. And Boodles customers can share in that monumental royal history with a Cullinan diamond of their own. The house buys rough diamonds directly from the mine, cuts and polishes them in-house, and sets them into the one-of-a-kind creations of the Peace of Mined collection. Clients who own a piece of this collection know exactly where their mesmerising diamond came from.
Such was the success of the initial Peace of Mined collection that Boodles is now sourcing stones directly from two further mines in Canada and Botswana, both of which operate with the highest ethical standards. It’s this dedication to traceability and provenance that has earned Boodles the nickname ‘the Green jeweller’.
And the house is doing even more to benefit its entire supply chain. In partnership with its long-standing chosen charity, StreetChild, it has supported building the Boodles Community School at the Yanfolila gold mine, providing free education to 250 local children. The house has also established the Boodles Scholarship, funding higher education for the children of miners in the Cullinan region, with the opportunity to complete an internship within Boodles.
“Boodles is a true family business,” says Jody Wainwright. “What we do, in turn, reflects closely upon who we are and what we stand for. So looking after the people who help us in acquiring our precious materials is important.”
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