Fairjewelry.org: Who Are We?
Intro: Since the first post in Spring, 2007, this blog has evolved into a focused project demanding a great deal of voluntary time and resources. I publish here a revised ‘About Us’ section which accurately reflects our current direction. ~Marc Choyt, Publisher
Just a few years ago, before the Blood Diamond film and the No Dirty Gold campaign, very few people even considered the toxic supply chain behind an average piece of jewelry. Now, the movement to have an ethical mine-to-market supply chain has become mainstream news.
This gold rush for the next big growth market in the jewelry sector is taking place behind the scenes. Think Organic Food fifteen years ago, or Fair Trade Coffee in the Seventies. Jewelry is an emotional purchase. No one wants to support tons of toxic tailings with the purchase of their wedding ring.
Over the past year particularly, the largest players in the jewelry sector have been attempting to define the ‘ethical jewelry’ space to their best advantage with as little disruption to their complex supply chain as possible. Small scale manufacturers and miners, who are more agile, yet have a small media voice, are also hoping to get some part of this potentially strong new market.
Generally speaking, except for those truly committed to transparency, which are few and far between, the public will wind up seeing only the final branded package, designed to reveal the sunny side while hiding it’s toxicity.
For example… a few current trends in process that I pose as questions; Is it right to market a diamond as conflict free if it results in massive environmental damages or human rights abuses? Do you think it is fair to brand large scale pit mining, with massive pollution to aquifers, as ‘sustainable’ and ‘loving’ toward the Earth? What if fair trade labeling organizations were to put a ‘fair trade tax’ on large scale diamond operations to make buckets of money—even if those diamond dealers were complicit in the death of 3.7 million people?
For a long time, I have attempted to hold the radical center, and to some degree, this site still has this as a major purpose. I want to focus on positive developments and not make the perfect enemy of the good. However, more and more, in order to maintain my own integrity, I find the need to expose lies and distortions.
I rely on my network of insiders, and the ability to connect apparently unrelated events that can sometimes seem like reading tea leaves. The sector is so secretive that you have to know both the right people and the right questions. I consider my viewpoint to be ‘pro-jewelry sector’, because the toxic elements of the sector can make any jeweler a ridiculously easy target; It’s just a matter of time. Denial, however, is solid. Exposing it with the hope that something might change is the equivalent of trying to carve granite with a plastic spoon.
I am President of Reflective Images Inc, a designer jewelry company located in Santa Fe, NM that was established in 1995. For my company, which I co-own with my wife, I am involved in strategic planning, marketing, website development and a myriad of other duties. My wife is the Creative Director, designing for our US and international production.
We are a small company of twelve people. In September, 2008, we were able to move our entire production, international and national, to recycled precious metals—a move we have been working on for years.
We are not perfect in our sourcing, because the supply chain is not mature enough yet and we have to survive somehow as we transition to who we want to be. But we are 100% transparent, and have developed an open source transparency system for others to use as well. We publish the Ethical Jewelry Handbook, a free e-book for the trade. This fall, I will be putting together a new free e-book for the public, and a new trade version as well. I am also spearheading an effort to create international fair trade manufacturing principles and standards.
The blog, writing handbooks, and my involvement in fair trade manufacturing issues, is a second full time job. Until fairjewelry.org, I knew of no central place where someone could go and find information. I am hoping within the next year to turn this project into a nonprofit company and gather still more resources.
I do not claim to be an expert. My views are continually evolving as I understand the myriad factors, including history, influencing events in this sector.
Yet, this blog is an extension of my ‘circle-based’ approach to business. A circle based understanding of life involves acknowledging how we are interconnected and working for economic systems that enhance community and support ecology.
My company’s activism and contribution to our local community was recently recognized by the Chamber of Commerce and City of Santa Fe, New Mexico. We were honored for Excellence in Business among all companies with five to twenty employees.
Understanding how the circle applies to business is one of the tasks that was set before me by the Indigenous wisdom keepers who have mentored me for the last twenty years. The abuse and destruction of indigenous culture is an outcome of many of the most distressing elements of the jewelry sector’s supply chain. This blog advocates for indigenous justice, which at its best means supporting the responsible efforts of artisan small scale miners.
The matrix of every business, its source of wealth, comes from communities. Communities that are strong are based on circles of fair exchange, not pyramids where all the benefit goes to a select few at the top. Our ‘resource-to-trash-to-cash’ economic model must be abandoned.
Finally, without the fine people who run the day-to-day operations of Reflective Images, I would not be able to focus so much time and energy to these issues. Of all those, I would especially like to acknowledge Marek Sutherland. Apart from being the front main customer service person for our company’s e-commerce platform, he does a fine job as webmaster, administrator and editor for this site.
Marc Choyt, Publisher and lead writer for fairjewelry.org
