Search Google for “fair trade jewelry” and you will find extensive listings of jewelry lines from small producers in the developing world. What exactly companies, (mostly resellers), mean when they call jewelry “fair trade” however, is not so clear. Fair trade jewelry as a product category is recognized by some fair trade organizations, such as

JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show – Monday, June 1st, 2009 April 28, 2009, Las Vegas – The annual Rapaport Fair Trade Jewelry Conference will be held Monday, June 1, 2009 at the JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show. Registration is free and open to all. The annual Rapaport Fair Trade Jewelry Conference presents an opportunity for

Last October, in Boston, I met Shamsa Diwani, from the Tanzania Women Miners Association (TAWOMA). She opened a small paper wrapping, showing me exquisite tanzanite that sparkled like the afternoon sky. Tanzanite is a stone I’ve shied away from. Too many people have died in the large tanzanite mines, some of which employ child labor.