Making Fairtrade & Fairmined Gold a reality

Not long to go now...

All the hard work of monitoring CRED gold suppliers Oro Verde, and of creating the international standards will come to a head on Valentines Day 2011 at the launch of the Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold label.

To present the new standards and it's benefits to the jewellery industry, next week CRED founder Greg Valerio will be leading a seminar at International Jewellery London urging them to use Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold from it's release next Spring.

We want to see the jewellery industry embracing these standards which improves the lives of disadvantaged miners and their communities. The more jewellers who use this gold, the more positive changes we will see in the industry right down the supply chain. At CRED we personally visit the suppliers we have worked with for over 10 years and have seen the differences the fairtrade premium makes.

At the seminar on Sept 5th, entitled 'Making Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold a reality', Greg will be explaining how ethical issues are a growing concern for consumers and trade. Greg's passion for the issues will lead to interesting debate and ideas sharing, and promote action for retailers as they hear about the work that the Fairtrade Foundation and ARM (The Alliance for Responsible Mining, of whom CRED are founder members) have been doing  in responding to the ethical challenges of current industry practices.

The CRED mission is to make it culturally unacceptable to buy jewellery that is not independently certified as socially and environmentally responsible, givingpeace of mind to the werarer.

Getting excited about Fairtrade Fairmined Gold

Cred founder Greg Valerio here gives us a taster of being part of the groundbreaking development in the Gold Story.




The standards that CRED gold is mined under have formed the basis for the new Fairtrade Fairmined gold standards to be launched on Valentines Day 2011.

Find out about the current standards of CRED ethical gold
Read more on Greg's blog

Choosing your wedding ring

The circle is an eternal shape and has been used across the centuries to represent love and commitment. A fair trade wedding ring has intrinsic values of ethical integrity and purity that fit with the celebration of a wedding.

Choosing a ring that you will wear every day of your life is no easy task. Before you start choosing colour and shape, you may want to consider:

Do you want your rings to match each others? Some couples want their rings to have the same colour and shape, as if they are part of a set. Whereas other couples have such different taste that they go for completely different looks.

Does the brides wedding ring need to coordinate with the colour and shape of the engagement ring?  As they sit alongside each other on the same finger, most girls want the wedding and engagement rings to be the same colour. If the stone(s) on the engagement ring are wider than the band then a shaped wedding ring will still fit flush alongside (see below)

So now you can choose the various aspects of your rings...

Colour
Do you wear more white-gold or yellow-gold jewellery?
Platinum is even harder wearing than white gold, but has a similar look – perfect if you do more manual work.

Shape
For the groom this is sometimes the first piece of jewellery he has ever worn so it needs to be comfortable. You may find that any ring you try on feels strange at first, but once you get used to the feel of it on your finger it will stop being so obvious.

Wedding rings are shaped both inside and out to be either curved or flat.

D-shaped: As the name sounds, a cross section of this ring would look like a ‘D’ shape – it is curved on the outside but flat on the inside.
Court: This ring is curved outside (like the D-shape) but also for added comfort for the wearer it is slightly curved in the inside of the ring where it hugs the finger.
Flat court: A popular contemporary wedding ring, this is flat on the outside, but with the comfort of the curved court fit on the inside.

A close fit
Depending on the design of the engagement ring, the bride may want her wedding ring to be shaped to fit around any wide set stones. The Sweep wedding band from CRED is fitted to your engagement ring so you can be sure it will be a perfect fit.

Size
Do you want a wide or narrow ring? A wedding ring can be made from 2mm to 6mm width. Guys will generally go for a wider ring, whereas the ladies may want to match the width of the band on the engagement ring. Think about if you will ever wear the wedding ring on its own, and how you’d like it to look.

Decoration
Further detail can be added to a simple wedding ring by way of engraving or stones. A single or double line engraved around the ring is a simple but effective way of modernising a plain ring.
Why not add a diamond or two for added sparkle.

Finish
A range of matt, high polish or Dualtone finish combinations are available to emphasise the detail of the ring

Hidden message
Some couples like to make their rings more personal to them by adding an engraved message in the inside of the ring – such as the date of the wedding, or a phrase that is personal to them. Remember to allow extra time for this to be done

Remember to allow up to 4 weeks from ordering your rings for them to be made for you

Our Vintage Bash

We had a great time at the vintage 50's bash on Saturday - thanks to all of you who joined us for some retro style fun, cakes and champagne. It was great to have Wayne Hemingway, founder of the Vintage at Goodwood festival, pop in for a chat in the afternoon too as we were shortlisted for the best dressed vintage shop in Chichester.

Here are some photos of the shop all decked out in vintage and hand-made decor - more to be posted on facebook soon. We will be keeping it in this style until the end of the festival this weekend, so if you are in town for the festivities, do pop in - there is still chance to enter the draw to win a piece from our Saphara collection in store too...

Vintage 50's bash - Sat 7th Aug

Chichester is gearing itself up for the arrival of Vintage at Goodwood next weekend, and to celebrate CRED are holding a Vintage 50's bash at the Chichester boutique on 7th August and we'd love you to join us.

Pop in during the day to see the boutique decked out in 50's chic, and Sabrina and Emily wearing their handmade dresses. All day we will be serving champagne and homemade cupcakes (also handmade by Sabrina & Emily - these girls have talent!) and there will be the chance to enter a draw to win a piece of fair trade jewellery from our gorgeous Saphara collection presented in a vintage style handbag.

If you arrive at just the right time you may bump into festival founder Wayne Hemmingway as he pops in to judge the best dressed stores in town.

We will keep the store in it's 50's style right up until the weekend of the Vintage at Goodwood festival, 13th-15th August, so even if you can't join us for the bash itself, then pop in during the week for a peek.

Ethical Diamond Sourcing

Our last few posts about the situation in Zimbabwe and the way this has affected attitudes towards the Kimberley Process certification can make the whole diamond sourcing process seem very bleak. But it is not all bad news!

In a recent article in Professional Jeweller, CRED director and designer Christian Cheesman talks about the future of sourcing ethical diamonds and the positive steps that are being made. Currently ethical diamonds are mainly sourced from Canada and Australia where they are mined under strict scrutiny from their governments regarding social and environmental impact. However, buying from these two sources will not help the progress of sustainable practices in Africa which take money to develop.

Organisations such as the Diamond Development Initiative International are making roads to addressing issues faced by artisnal diamond miners. They have developed a set of goals to achieve long term positive development moving on from the Kimberley Process's starting point.

Read the full Ethical Diamond Sourcing article in Professional Jeweller