GOLD,
OUR CHOICE!
Since the creation of Ôkami, we wanted to work with gold and diamond. With more than 15 years of experience in the watch and jewelry industry and particularly in high-value creations, we wanted to offer a product that would meet the quality standards we are used to working with, but with a concern for transparency and responsibility in the manufacturing process
. This is why, based on our expertise, we turned to recycled gold, which, according to the information we gathered, must come from the remodeling of old jewelry or from waste produced by the watch and jewelry industry. We thus respected our desire to work in a short circuit by reusing gold already on Swiss territory and to give it a new life in a piece of jewelry rather than sleeping at the bottom of a safe.
"A FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE LAUNCH, A BIG RETHINK AND A CHANGE OF COURSE".
What
made us
CHANGE OUR OPINION?
May 2021, we watch a report made by the Swiss channel RTS in the context of its program "A BON ENTENDEUR". We learn from this report that gold coming from foreign countries and which has already been refined goes directly into the "recycled gold" sector. We understand that we could no longer be sure that we would only use gold from industrial waste or from the melting of old jewelry. The report focuses mainly on artisanal mines in Burkina Faso where the gold miners work in poor conditions, not to mention child labor. This gold is then exported mainly to Dubai, which will refine it and then ship it directly to Switzerland or to other countries such as Canada. It is likely that from the latter country, the gold arrives anyway to Switzerland .... Below, you will find the link to the report.
RECYCLED GOLD
In 2017, Europe recycled about 320 tons of gold which is more than the needs of the jewelers present on its territory.
According to an interview of the company QORE (specialized in trading and innovation of precious metals) published in "allnews", producing "1kg of recycled industrial gold costs only 1000 kg of CO2 while mining gold costs about 12'550 kg".
FAIRTRADE GOLD
This gold comes only from small-scale mines and the workers receive a guaranteed minimum price. One of the objectives is to prevent the gold trade from fuelling instability and conflict in the mining areas. Another concern is the working conditions and especially the use of chemicals.
FAIRTRADE GOLD
This gold comes only from small-scale mines and the workers receive a guaranteed minimum price. One of the objectives is to prevent the gold trade from fuelling instability and conflict in the mining areas. Another concern is the working conditions and especially the use of chemicals.
THE CHOICE
MAX HAVELAAR
Our desire for transparency led us to choose the fair trade gold proposed by Max Havelaar. What this choice promises us is a better protection of people and the environment in the artisanal exploitation of gold. 100 million people depend on this type of exploitation of gold throughout the world. Often poorly structured and unorganized, these operations do not offer decent working conditions to miners and show little concern for the environment. The Fairtrade label requires that they be legalized and meet a series of standards that guarantee a higher payment for their gold.
We have put a link below that redirects to the Max Havelaar pages so you can read about the concept of Fairtrade gold at the source.
Bracelet from the SEN collection, set with 24 diamonds and an amethyst
IN CONCLUSION
Ôkami was born with its first production in Fairtrade gold. However, we are still looking for an option from recycled gold that could meet our wish to be able to guarantee the traceability of the gold and that would come from a Swiss foundry.
For us, fairtrade gold is an interesting proposition, especially because it allows us to preserve the employment of people in countries where this type of exploitation takes place. However, this implies that the gold crosses the oceans to reach us whereas, as we have seen above, in Europe, enough recycled gold is produced to cover the needs of the jewelry industry.
We therefore put our will to develop an ethical and short circuit jewelry by the partners we work with, but also by the origin of the materials we choose to use