When we think pioneer, we think of innovation, or someone taking the first step into uncharted territory. Forget Lewis and Clarke, think Neil Armstrong. That’s the sort of person we consider a pioneer: the person who is the first, and we do mean the very first, to do something.
The Cambridge dictionary describes a pioneer as ‘a person who is one of the first people to do something’ and in my experience, this definition is generally accepted.
So imagine my surprise when I received an email back in February, from Boodles, with a link to a press release where Boodles’ director, Jody Wainwright, cheerfully describes Boodles as ‘one of the pioneers in the jewellery industry.’
Boodles, SMO Press release
This, in a press release about single mine origin (SMO) gold, which Boodles claims makes up all of the gold they now use in their jewellery.
Whilst this may all sound great, I think it's important, in a world of greenwashing, to put this into context, against the backdrop of the genuine progress that has been made in gold sourcing in the last 10 years or so. This will involve looking at Fairtrade and Fairmined gold, as well as taking a closer look at SMO gold and the claims made about it. Most troublingly are the outright lies and more subtle misdirection that both Boodles and SMO are prepared to indulge in when it comes to communication. But there will be more on this later.
Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold
Fairtrade gold launched in February 2011, and Fairmined gold was available before that. Both schemes work with small scale artisanal gold miners in developing countries to help them address a range of issues that they face. When launched, 20 jewellers signed up to take delivery of Fairtrade gold and to integrate it into their supply chain. Since then, many other jewellers have managed to do the same.
Unfortunately, this initial group of jewellers did not contain Boodles; nor does the growing number of jewellers joining even now. This is a fact that Greg Valerio, a key figure in the creation of Fairtrade gold, lamented on in his book: Making Trouble: The Fight for Fairtrade Jewellery. What follows is an extract from his book.
“My only disappointment was that, despite talking to brands such as Cartier, Tiffany, and Boodles, none of them were prepared to come on board for the launch. It would have cost them very little in real terms and would have demonstrated a commitment to human rights and environmental responsibility.”
So why, 10 full years since the launch of Fairtrade gold, do Boodles consider themselves pioneers, having only now decided to look at their supply chain?
Something that is impossible to ignore is that Boodles were mentioned in less than glowing terms in a 2020 report by human rights watch, as well as being described as ‘weak’ in a 2018 report.
So why did Boodles not take up Fairtrade gold?
Ask Boodles about it (we did) and they will tell you they weren't aware of Fairtrade gold, so engrossed have they been in making jewellery.
‘‘We are a family business (I am cousin to Honour and Jody) and in reality, we simply weren’t aware of some of these initiatives ten years ago, being focused on designing and making jewellery, looking after our customers, and running a business.’’ - James Amos.
Whilst this may seem reasonable, there's no doubt they have made plenty of jewellery, there's some evidence to suggest they were fully aware, and even to an extent involved in Fairtrade gold from its inception. The above quote seems to contradict their claim that Boodles’ didn’t know of the initiative, as Valerio says that he, not only reached out to Boodles, but spoke with them, implying some sort of mutual dialogue. Taking another excerpt from Making Trouble: The Fight for Fairtrade Jewellery, we see Valerio go into more detail about this discussion.
“I had asked Tom, manager of Boodles, if he would spend some time with the Fairtrade women and explain to them what a a premium jewellery customer expected. He produced a marquise-cut yellow diamond and platinum cocktail ring valued at £180,000 and asked them to try it on.
”How does it make you feel?” he asked.”
Boodles are not unique in being so preoccupied with making jewellery. Indeed, most jewellers manage to produce at least some jewellery and with significantly fewer resources than Boodles are able to call on. And 20 managed to sign up to use Fairtrade gold upon its establishment, with many more having done so since, and some also managing to use Fairmined gold too.
The claim that Boodles weren’t aware of Fairtrade gold at the time of its creation, has been described as a ‘material lie’, citing face to face meetings with Boodles’ directors where Fairtrade gold was discussed.
So what's the real reason Boodles didn't take up the offer of Fairtrade gold?
Fairtrade gold comes with a small premium that miners use to develop their often isolated communities. This means that Fairtrade gold costs more than regularly sourced gold, a cost that some jewellers choose to pass on to their customers.
So is this the reason that, 10 years on, Boodles haven’t used Fairtrade or Fairmined gold? Do the Wainwrights really begrudge small scale miners a fair price for their gold and the Fairtrade premium that much? It’s certainly possible, though, as mentioned above, they have the option of passing the cost on to their customers. However, this can be detrimental to sales as customers will likely be unhappy with rising prices. So, what’s the alternative? Jeweller Stephen Webster pledged to absorb this premium to ensure that the issue of cost wouldn’t hinder a customer from choosing Fairtrade gold.
Maybe margins at Boodles are so tight, and finances so precarious, that they just can't absorb these costs?
Or maybe, there's an element of embarrassment? Greg Valerio started his jewellery business, CRED, in 1996 and,in just 15 years, was able to launch a product,(Fairtrade gold) with the backing of the Fairtrade Foundation, that benefits hundreds of miners working in some of the most difficult conditions you can imagine. Whilst 15 years isn't exactly the blink of an eye, it's a far shorter time span than Boodles have been in business. Why wasn’t Boodles able to do this? What good are several generations and multiple lifetimes spent in the jewellery industry if a novice can come in do more in 15 years?
Whatever the real reason, it's true to say that in the 10 years or so that Fairtrade gold has been available, Boodles have made the conscious decision not to integrate it into their supply chain.
So what is SMO gold, and how does it stack up to Fairtrade and Fairmined?
As the name suggests SMO gold can be traced back to a single mine, in this case, a gold mine in Mali owned by a British company Hummingbird Resources.
One difference between SMO and both Fairtrade and Fairmined (FT & FM) is the size of the mines they operate and who benefits from them. FT & FM both work with small scale artisanal miners who own and operate the mines they work in, whereas ‘SMO gold’ represents a single commercial producer owned by a listed British company.
SMO gold is distributed in the UK through Betts metal sales, a wholesale metal, parts and tools supplier to the jewellery trade, who are part of the larger ‘Betts group’. As the name suggests, the ‘Betts group’ has been owned and operated by the Betts family since 1760. Dan and Stephen Betts are both directors of Hummingbird Resources.
The key point of SMO gold seems to be that it comes from a single mine, owned and operated by a reputable company.
People who benefit from SMO gold, The board of Hummingbord dirctors
People who benefit from Fairtrade gold, small scale miners
People who benefit from Fairmined gold.
Misleading Communication
A quick read of the SMO website reveals that they see themselves as being in competition with FT & FM and are prepared to mislead the intentions of both organisations in order to gain market share amongst jewellers keen to improve their supply chain.
Despite the claims made by SMO, the FT & FM premiums are not in fact designed to punish jewellers. They serve two purposes: firstly, to enable small scale mining groups to invest in their communities and build things like schools, as well as making the mines they work in safer. Secondly, it helps to pay for the third-party audits.
Independent audits are a vital part of the process in no small part because of the lack of trust the public has had in the jewellery industry following revelations such as the Blood Diamond Scandal and the more recent Luanda Leaks.
Screenshot from the SMO gold website, 09/09/2021
So, are SMO gold able to offer gold that has been independently audited without a premium?
Well, it doesn’t look like it, though you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise if you’ve read their website. SMO mentions three separate organisations on a page titled ‘SMO responsibility’.
One organisation that gets a mention is the World Gold Council, an organisation that outlines a series of responsible gold mining principles, yet whose primary purpose is as a ‘market development organisation for the gold industry’. Indeed, there is no structure for ensuring that these responsible gold mining principles are met and no punitive measures for those who do not meet them. The World Gold Council has no track record of improving the lives of small scale gold miners or protecting the environment they work in.
Another organisation that gets a mention is IRMA, which does set out responsible mining practices and even independently audits mines.
We spoke to IRMA’S executive director, Aimee Boulanger, via zoom to ask her about the audits they carry out and the standards they set. Firstly, despite the wording on the SMO gold website, IRMA had never heard of SMO gold (until we contacted them) and had not audited their mine, describing the wording on the SMO website as ‘misleading’.
‘‘The wording on the SMO gold website is misleading. No gold mines have yet been independently audited by IRMA. We hope that a number will soon be audited, but it is not accurate to yet claim that such material is being delivered by SMO."- Aimee Boulanger, Executive director IRMA.
The final organisation mentioned in the context of ‘responsibility’ is the International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM), an organisation that claims to be dedicated to a safe, fair, and sustainable metals and mining industry. Hummingbird Resources do not appear on the ICMM ‘member companies’, which may suggest they are not members and have not been audited. Despite repeated attempts across multiple channels, we have been unable to contact ICMM with questions related to SMO and their audits.
This is all important because, without independent auditing, we essentially have to take the word of SMO and Boodles that the standards they talk about are being implemented. Given the readiness of Boodles to apparently lie when asked about Fairtrade gold, the misleading wording on the SMO website, the generally poor track record of the jewellery industry and the commercial incentive to paint themselves in the best possible light, can we trust them?
It’s also important because of the value proposition between SMO gold and Fairtrade and Fairmined, with whom they are doubtless in competition. There will be jewellers and consumers out there making a decision about which metal to use or buy, making a decision not based purely on cost, but also on the good they do.
One of the key strengths of the Fairtrade and Fairmined programs is independent auditing by bodies whose primary focus is environmental protection and workers rights, rather than the interests of the jewellery industry. This ensures that individuals and the planet we all have to live on are being protected and not disregarded for a few people to make capital gains. Without these independent audits, you’d essentially have to take Fairtrade and Farimined’s word for it that all their standards were being upheld.
Fairtrade gold is an audited by FLOCERT, a social enterprise established in 2003 and headquartered in Bonn Germany, whilst Fairmined works with three auditors: SCS Global services, Mazars, and Naturacert.
So who's auditing and monitoring SMO?
Nobody it seems. One red flag is the mention on the website of the Responsible Jewellery Council, a body set up to protect the interests of the big players in the jewellery industry and an organisation that was badly exposed in the wake of the Luanda Leaks and De Grosogono scandal.
A Handful of salt
So, is this announcement from Boodles a win for sustainability and traceability, or is this just a jewellery company continuing to buy gold from people they’ve always bought gold from and a mining company doing something they were going to do anyway, only now being framed as something ‘pioneering?’
A random family from unsplash.
Family Business
One thing that Boodles are keen to talk about and that they constantly reference in publications is that they are a family business; Jody Wainwright and cousin James Amos are part of the sixth generation to run Boodles. This is presumably important, or at least relevant when discussing the topic of ethical materials (otherwise why mention it), though for the life of me I can't figure out why.
There's no track record of family businesses being at the forefront of tackling the issues that affect the jewellery industry. In fact, quite the opposite. Not one of the initial 20 Fairtrade gold recipients is a ‘family business’ and many of the worst cartels who have controlled the resources the industry relies on are family-run affairs.
There are also plenty of family-run businesses at the bottom of the jewellery supply chain. This image below, taken from the human rights watch report, shows mothers with young children working in a gold mine in the Central African Republic. This type of scene is far from unique and it’s difficult to imagine that these miners wouldn’t benefit from a Fairtrade premium. Perhaps, if companies such as Boodles were willing to support initiatives such as Fairtrade and Fairmined, we wouldn’t have photos of babies sitting in the dirt as their mothers pan for gold, earning scarcely enough money to feed their family.
Adult and child gold miners at Bocaranga, Ouham Pende, Central African Republic. © 2020 International Peace Information Service
And this gets to the point of the whole thing. Fairtrade and Fairmined gold didn’t just appear and their existence isn’t guaranteed. They came about because of the hard work of lots of people all over the world and have grown because some jewellers have made it their business to incorporate it into their supply chain. As a result, more small scale miners have been able to benefit as more mines have been integrated into these schemes.
Imagine how many more could have benefited if larger jewellers had come on board and put their support behind the project? Maybe there would have been fewer mine collapses, fewer deaths, less environmental damage and more development? Maybe more scenes like the one below could have been avoided?
Boodles clearly don’t, and have never, considered small scale miners as worthy of any type of assistance, despite benefitting from their hard work for generations. Small scale artisanal gold mining has been a part of the Boodles supply chain until very recently if their claims are to be believed. But in 2021, small scale gold miners in developing countries still need help. There’s nothing stopping Boodles from using SMO, Fairtrade and Farmined gold.
The time to be a pioneer was back in 2011. In 2021, Boodles are playing a game of catch-up. While there’s definitely been progress, we could be years ahead of where we are now.
We’ve written before about the gulf between the activism of Emma Thompson and the actions of Boodles, a business that she enthusiastically supports. You wouldn’t imagine that a celebrity passionate about human rights and environmental issues would advocate for a business so desperate not to engage with these issues, despite being involved in a supply chain that so often causes them. Yet perhaps this is a demonstration of exactly how much power misleading information, such as that provided by Boodles and Hummingbird Resource, can have over us all. If we’re not willing to look deeper into the means by which jewellery is produced, how can we be sure that, in gaining something ourselves, we are not doing so at the detriment of someone else?
