Fashion
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The jewelry industry goes green
By Catherine Dayrit
May 14, 2009
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| For SeaWeb's "Coral Reinterpreted" collection, designers paid homage to the ocean without using coral. Tiffany and Co. designer Paloma Picasso's 18-karat turquoise brooch features diamonds, blue chalcedony and chrysoprase. |
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When Oregon-based designer Toby Pomeroy began searching for sources of recycled gold in the earlier part of this decade, he came up empty.
"There wasn't any [available]--or at least not commercially available," says Pomeroy, who has been in the jewelry business since the late '60s.
But today, the marketplace for earth-friendly, "green" materials has burst wide open.
One of the jewelry industry's biggest refiners, Hoover and Strong, now works only in 100-percent recycled precious metals through its Harmony Metals and Gems program. And the term "conflict-free diamonds" has become nearly as familiar to customers as the Four C's.
Just five years after sparking a fruitful conversation with Hoover and Strong, Pomeroy's hand-forged designs are made under the standards he once sought.
Like many other designers who work in recycled materials, Pomeroy remains committed to promoting sustainable business practices, believing that it is particularly important in an industry whose product is inextricably connected to the earth.
"In terms of jewelry makers and the industry, we do have more of a responsibility," says designer Melissa Joy Manning, whose work is made of recycled metals, found objects and conflict-free diamonds. "Everything we [as an industry] use is organic materials, and if we don't make sure the resources are there for future generations, it's irresponsible."
In addition to the wider array of green resources available today, designers say the prices of recycled goods such as gold were once higher, but have now come down to match those of mined metals.
Mining the alternatives
Why use recycled metals? For many designers, including Washington, D.C.-based designer Alberto Parada, learning about destructive gold mining practices that produce harmful waste and contaminants led them to a point of no return.
"Once I did my research and read about the destruction caused by metal mining, that's what set me off to finding a manufacturer that was local and that worked in recycled metals," says Parada, whose designs feature recycled metals from Hoover and Strong, paired with conflict-free diamonds and fair-trade gemstones.
Though materials are more available, challenges still remain, such as finding chain components, which cannot yet be produced from recycled metals, Parada says. Manning notes that it might be harder for jewelers who cast to use recycled metals. In addition, challenges persist for designers who work overseas.
Lori Bonn, whose jewelry is produced in Bali, Indonesia, uses sterling silver that is at least 50 percent post-industrial recycled, though she would like to bring that figure up to 100 percent. For now, the refining processes in Bali are not up to the task, and recycled silver can not yet be imported, but the designer does what she can to trace the sources of her gemstones and ensure that the company uses conflict-free diamonds, in compliance with the Kimberley Process.
The earth-invasive nature of the jewelry business still makes Bonn uneasy, as does a supply chain that, while certainly more transparent than ever, still holds pockets of mystery.
"When I would go to a silver factory, I could see my smiths, see that they were comfortable, but the nature of making jewelry is that it makes a mark," Bonn says.
Pomeroy says designers shouldn't rule out mined metals altogether--as responsible mining does exist.
Mammoth Tusk Gold, for example, a Yukon, Canada-based mining company, extracts gold from alluvial deposits, Pomeroy says. The topsoil is first removed, then the rock, with each of the layers stored separately.
Then, once the miners get down to the orb-bearing rock, the gold is removed through a gravity separation process in which no chemicals are involved. The layers of rock and soil are subsequently put back and the landscape is restored to its former appearance, Pomeroy says, except that wildlife is able to return to the area because the permafrost (frozen subsoil) has been broken.
"There aren't a lot of places in the world where you can do that, but it's an instance of where they can do it, responsibly," Pomeroy says. "A lot of people don't understand that's it not about eliminating the mining cycle, because we can't really do that. We need metals, and there's more demand than is being reclaimed, but the intention is to communicate to the extraction industries that they need to clean up, be responsible and not damage the rivers and oceans."
In addition to responsible mining companies, "clean" refiners, such as Boston-based M and K Recovery Group, which is a "primary" refiner, now specialize in providing emissions-free reclamation.
M and K employs an acid-reduction method that the company says is a more efficient and cleaner way of refining precious metals. It also involves a quicker turnaround and lowers the costs associated with refining by producing a pure gold product in fewer steps than when employing a smelting method, says Charles Fleming, vice president of refining operations for the group.
Wealthy are early adopters
Besides the environmental benefits, consumer interest in green products continues to be a driving force behind the industry's transformation.
The topic is so au courant that the Luxury Marketing Council, a collaborative organization of 3,000-plus luxury sector chief executive officers and marketing executives, has devoted no less than three think tank-type events to green products within the past year.
Greg Furman, founder and chairman of the council, says the negative impact on reputation, revenue and margins could be significant for companies that ignore the green issue.
"More and more customers, 3.2 million people with assets of $1 million or more, are basing their decisions on how politically responsible companies are," he says. "People want a better world, and they're using their dollars to vote."
Consumer spending on green products is growing and expected to reach an estimated $500 billion next year, says Pamela Peeters, an environmental economist who is the founder and owner of Pamela Peeters Productions, which produces the TV show Our Planet.
Peeters says that because luxury goods tend to last longer and are often considered heirlooms that are passed down from generation to generation, marketers of those goods have a particularly important opportunity to play up the connection between the timelessness of their products and the sustainable means through which those goods were created.
"There's a strong parallel between the luxury market and the sustainability market," Peeters says. "Every society says 'yes' to a certain level of comfort and luxury, and we want to ensure that same quality or even better for the next generation to come."
Peeters says that the wealthy are often early adopters of new goods, and thus a good marketing target for green products. And while the millennial generation has been weaned on the merits of adopting an earth-friendly philosophy, Peeters says that the purchasing power of working women, especially those between 27 and 50, shouldn't be ignored.
"Women's purchasing power has grown more than 25 percent in the last 10 years," Peeters says. "They are [as a group] more concerned about being eco-friendly than men, and they are able to justify higher prices by going eco. Paying more for something that feels good and does good is a valid sales argument."
SeaWeb, the nonprofit behind the coral conservation initiative "Too Precious To Wear," targets that very demographic. Its president, Dawn Martin, says the distribution channels for news on science and conservation efforts tend to reach a limited audience, so for its coral conservation efforts, SeaWeb targets the fashion industry, a sector that has a widespread influence on jewelry buyers.
This year, the organization launched a "Coral Reinterpreted" collection and asked designers to create special-edition designs evocative of the ocean but not made of coral.
The selection of designers, including Paloma Picasso, Hannah Garrison and Manning, among others, was intended to appeal to a wide range of consumers with various tastes and price points, and the hope is not only for consumers to take a stance on coral conservation, but also to secure legislation, including a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) listing to ensure greater monitoring, as well as the reauthorization of the Coral Reef Conservation Act.
Forging ahead
Parada says that one of the greatest hurdles has been determining how to market the company's green jewelry.
"Customers would think we were working in bamboo and some didn't understand the concept," he says.
But Parada has found that using the term "eco-friendly fine jewelry" has helped clarify to customers that the pieces they are buying are still made of precious metals and genuine gemstones.
Many designers say that the aesthetics of a piece remain the primary reason consumers are attracted to a design, and for some, the fact that a piece is made of eco-friendly materials is icing on the cake. But at the same time, more consumers are asking about green issues.
"We're in a period of time when people are really looking for quality, and they're considering how something was made, the conditions under which something was made and the ethics or integrity of the materials," Pomeroy says.
And when it comes to the greening of the industry, it's just a few trailblazers and a lot of little steps that will eventually turn the tides.
"It's not an easy thing," Pomeroy says. "It's much easier to follow that well-worn path, but ultimately, if that well-worn path is leading us over the cliff, we need to choose a new one."
Starting small
Designers and experts suggest that companies that would like to go green should slowly integrate changes into their stores and work environments.
--Do research. Retailers need to promote themselves as experts, able to answer consumer questions on issues such as green mining practices and conflict diamonds.
--Question your suppliers. Make sure to ask your suppliers where gemstones and metals are coming from.
--Make your office more green friendly. Small changes--recycling, switching to more efficient light bulbs and using less packaging or more eco-friendly packaging--add up.
--Think social. After integrating greener practices into the workplace, involve your employees through team-building events such as a tree-planting activity, or invite customers to enjoy organic foods at an in-store event promoting designs made of recycled metals.
Do consumers care?
The World Wildlife Fund's "Let them eat cake" study on the consumer appetite for responsible brands cited findings from a 2005 United Kingdom-based Co-operative Bank's study, which found:
--57 percent of consumers have recommended a company on the basis of its responsible reputation.
--58 percent have avoided a product or service because of the company's reputation.
--35 percent have actively sought information on a company's reputation.
--35 percent have felt guilty about unethical purchase(s).
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