Transparency, Traceability and Trust in the Jewellery Industry

When I was working on the B2B side of the jewellery trade, conversations around a diamond or gemstone were generally straightforward. What is it? How good is it? What does it cost? Who has it? Provenance mattered, particularly for certain gemstones, and reputation mattered enormously. Relationships, perhaps most of all, were fundamental to how business was conducted.

But “transparency”, as we understand the term today, was certainly not a word that dominated every conversation.

DEFINING TRANSPARENCY

As I gradually became more involved in dealing directly with consumers, designing and crafting bespoke jewellery, I began to see the industry from a rather different perspective. The questions changed. Today, people understandably want to know far more about what they are buying. Where did this diamond come from? Was this sapphire responsibly sourced? Can you tell me where the gold in this ring originated? 

And, perhaps most importantly, how much do you actually know about the journey of the materials you are selling?

After four decades in this trade, I believe these are excellent questions. I also believe, however, that we sometimes give answers that are rather too simple.

Anyone who has spent time in diamond offices, gem markets, cutting centres and international trade shows knows that the journey from source to finished jewellery is rarely as neat as the diagrams suggest. A stone may pass through several hands and several countries. Rough material may be sorted in one place, cut and polished in another, and subsequently sold through an entirely different international trading centre.

The coloured gemstone world can be even more complicated. Supply chains range from sophisticated large-scale mining operations to artisanal and small-scale miners, local dealers and aggregators. None of this automatically means something is wrong, nor does it mean that such material cannot be responsibly sourced. It does, however, mean that establishing a consistent and independently verifiable chain of custody can be considerably more challenging.

TRACEABILITY AND TRUTH ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME THING

And here is my somewhat uncomfortable observation: traceability and truth are not necessarily the same thing.

A document can tell us what someone has declared. A sophisticated digital system can preserve information entered into it throughout a supply chain. A certificate can provide valuable assurance. All these things have their place, and the industry has made genuine progress in developing them. But none should relieve us of the responsibility to ask further questions.

The OECD's guidance on responsible mineral supply chains makes an important distinction in this regard. Due diligence involves identifying, preventing and mitigating risks and accounting for how those risks are addressed. It is considerably more demanding than simply obtaining a reassuring declaration from one's supplier. That is an important point because the jewellery industry is becoming increasingly adept at telling stories about provenance and sustainability. Some are excellent stories and some are important ones. But, if I may be slightly blunt, some stories can become better than the evidence supporting them.

I have always believed that provenance can add meaning to a gemstone or a piece of jewellery. Knowing something about its origin can genuinely deepen our appreciation of it. But provenance should not become theatre. A QR code does not automatically create transparency. Neither does an impressive-looking certificate or a beautifully written paragraph about sustainability.

Real transparency occasionally requires a much less glamorous answer: This is what we know, this is how we know it, and this is what we cannot honestly claim to know. In my view, there is nothing weak about that answer. Quite the contrary. It takes confidence and integrity to acknowledge the limits of one's knowledge.

CLEAR DIAMOND DISCLOSURE

This brings me to diamonds, where transparency must also extend to the language we use. I am, and have always been, a strong proponent of natural diamonds. I believe there is something genuinely extraordinary about a mineral formed by nature over geological time and eventually transformed by human skill into an object of beauty. That is my view, and I make no apology for it.

Supporting natural diamonds, however, does not require me to disparage laboratory-grown diamonds. They are a distinct product with a legitimate market. What matters to me is clarity. Consumers deserve to know precisely what they are buying.

Current CIBJO guidance distinguishes natural diamonds from diamonds produced through industrial processes and requires terminology that clearly identifies synthetic or laboratory-grown products. It also makes clear that terms such as “natural”, “real”, “genuine” and “authentic” should not be used to describe laboratory-grown diamonds. The terminology debate continues to evolve internationally, and regulations and industry guidance are not identical in every jurisdiction. That is precisely why clarity is so important. Whatever terminology is used, consumers should never be left to work out for themselves what the product actually is.

I have also tried to challenge my own thinking on this subject. Am I being unfair to the industry by concentrating on its shortcomings? I do not believe so. The industry has made substantial progress, and there are serious organisations, companies and individuals working to improve responsible sourcing and traceability. We should recognise that progress.

But progress should not make us complacent.

And this applies across the board — to natural diamonds, coloured gemstones, precious metals and laboratory-grown products. Each has its own supply-chain and disclosure challenges. No sector should claim moral perfection simply because it can point to a particular certificate, standard or technological solution.

After forty years in this business, perhaps that is where I have finally arrived on the subject of transparency. It is not about perfection, and it is certainly not about pretending that we know everything about every stage of an increasingly complicated global supply chain.

It is about having the discipline to establish what we can, the willingness to verify what we claim and the integrity to be honest about what we do not know.

For an industry that asks people to place enormous financial and emotional value in what we sell, I would argue that this is not merely good practice. It is fundamental to trust.

And trust, after all these years in the jewellery business, remains the most valuable thing any jeweller has.

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