Jewellery World Magazine - August 2021

By Stefan Juengling
Creative craftspeople at the
cutting edge of the green scene:
AUSTRALIA’S ETHICAL JEWELLERY INDUSTRY
While some might consider the Australian jewellery industry as lagging behind other industries in
terms of environmental, ethical and sustainable practices, there are some trailblazers setting the
standard for others to follow. We spoke to some of them here to get their take on how Australia’s
jewellery industry is progressing when it comes to love for jewellery, people and the planet.
Are blood diamonds truly a thing
of the past?
The 2006 blockbuster film Blood Diamond
gave wide exposure to a problem long known
in the jewellery industry: that the diamond
mining industry is harmful to developing
nations and third-world diamond miners. In
2003, the Kimberley Process was implemented
which sets out requirements for controlling
rough diamonds and trade, and effectively
prevents ‘conflict diamonds’ from entering the
mainstream rough diamond market. 18 years
after the implementation, our contributors
had mixed responses as to how the ethical
diamond scene has progressed since then.
Utopian Creations is an Adelaide-based ethical
bespoke jeweller operating since 2005, and
director Ben Manning said the Kimberley
Process was successful in the specific goal of
preventing the sale of diamonds to fund militia
violence, but that’s all.
Ethical Jewellery Australia
“It can’t stop governments from selling
diamonds to fund violence (such as that which
occurred in Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe), it
doesn’t stop environmental damage or all the
other social impacts that can happen from
diamond mining,” he said.
“The Kimberley Process was not set up to
determine the ethical nature of a diamond
and it does not serve that purpose.”
Ben praised the fact that the mined diamond
industry has changed for the better over
the past 20 years, with great advances in
environmental stewardship in some countries
along with co-operation with indigenous
groups.
“However some parts of the world are still
languishing with child/forced labour in both
the mining and cutting industries.
“Improved traceability and guidance by
industry bodies, public, private and NGO's will
help greatly into the future.”
Also founded in 2005, Inspira Diamonds is a
Perth-based wholesale diamond distributor
which provides a platform for diamond goods
with sound provenance. Company director
Steve McClelland and director of marketing
Charmaine Thane both said that the ethical
diamond industry had progressed significantly
since the company’s founding, and thanks to
ethical diamond brands such as theirs driving
change from the supply end of the chain.
“The raising of awareness in the ‘ethical
gem’ community and driven by consumer
consciousness has also assisted considerably,”
they said.
They also pointed to Argyle’s closure which
Ethical Jewellery Australia
Inspira Diamonds
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jewellery world - August 2021