Responding to Channel 4's Dispatches program on 'Dirty Gold'
In light of the recent despatches program on Channel 4 investigating ‘Dirty gold’, Form Bespoke Jewellers have clarified their ongoing sourcing policy of precious metals and stones whilst also giving greater detail into the process of designing, creating and manufacturing their bespoke precious jewellery. The program highlighted the confusion on the high street as to the traceability of gold and therefore the inability to guarantee the ethical impact on the workers, many of which are children and the communities involved in the mining and producing the gold as well as the destruction to the environment through the chemical refining process.
At Form Bespoke Jewellers, we are proud to offer our customers real insight into the jewellery that they create. Customers work with their jeweller and not a sales person who will be able to answer any questions they have regarding the creation of their jewellery including the ethical and environmental source of the precious metals, diamonds and precious stones. Tim Swann, Director of Form Bespoke Jewellers says, “At Form Bespoke Jewellers, we are often told by our customers that they love the fact they see the jeweller that is making their perfect piece, whether it be an engagement ring, wedding ring, eternity ring or a gift, they see the jeweller the whole way through the creation of their commission.” Working to all budgets, Form Bespoke Jewellers offer their customers responsibly sourced, beautiful bespoke jewellery at fantastic value.
Tim Swann says “Customers find that they feel much more a part of the process and are able to make each piece truly individual. Each member of staff at Form Bespoke Jewellers has between 15 and 26 years experience in the Jewellery trade, and we are more than happy to advise customers regarding the design and production of the piece, down to the manufacturing process. We are very conscious of ‘blood diamonds’ and ‘dirty gold’ and we work constantly to ensure that neither is ever used at Form Bespoke Jewellers. All our suppliers are the most reputable in the UK. We don’t use cheaper foreign pre-made pieces as the origin of the metals is incredibly hard to trace and we’ve found the metal itself can be of a much poorer quality.”
Every piece of bespoke jewellery sold by Form Bespoke Jewellers is designed, created and finished by the small team of highly skilled jewellers at their workshop and showroom in Chapel Allerton Leeds. From start to finish the jewellery is created in England by hand, ensuring there is no compromise to employee welfare or to the environment. We use reputable UK based casting companies who have responsible sourcing policies. In order to offer our customers choice, a small amount of unfinished component pieces are bought in from reputable UK suppliers and the finishing process is again carried out at the Leeds workshop to ensure that no person is exploited in the creation of their pieces. Everything sold by Form Bespoke Jewellers has been created in the most responsible method possible.
For jewellers who have to buy in finished jewellery, their sourcing options are from a wide range of international suppliers, where it is impossible to trace the source of their precious metal. The UK hallmark guarantees the purity of the gold or platinum, but not the ethical source or welfare of those involved in its creation.
Form Bespoke Jewellers work with reputable precious metal suppliers who use a combination of recycled gold or Eco Gold, whilst also applying pressure to gain traceability on newly mined gold. They are also supportive of Fairtrade Fairmined gold and Fairtrade Fairmined Ecological gold. These options are available to our customers in creating their beautiful bespoke pieces. Form Bespoke Jewellers also have traceability of all diamonds and precious stones through their small specially selected selection of suppliers, using the Kimberly process and the diamond certification process to ensure all diamonds are conflict-free.
As well as creating their perfect piece of jewellery, customers really enjoy the process of learning about the often mysterious world of gold and diamonds, making them feel much closer and more involved, which increases the sentimental worth of the piece. Their customers genuinely care about the social and environmental impact of creating their jewellery and this playing a much great role in where customers decide to buy from.
Form Bespoke Jewellers do not carry the large range of stock associated with a traditional jewellery retailer, which means that we are able to keep our margins down, whilst their excellent contacts in the fine metals and precious stone industries mean that they achieve fantastic savings to pass on to our customers. This makes Form Bespoke Jewellers highly competitive against the high street whilst also creating something especially for each individual customer.
Each piece of jewellery comes with Form Bespoke Jewellers complimentary after-care service including resizing, cleaning, polishing and re-plating. Form Bespoke Jewellers care about how their jewellery is created, we care about our customers and our commitment to offering our customers our best price means that caring does not have to come at a higher cost.
To find out more about Form Bespoke Jewellers and creating your perfect piece of jewellery please go to www.formjewellery.com or call Form Bespoke Jewellers on 0113 262 4064.
