All that glitters is not gold

On the 28th of June a talk was given by Angela, our shop manager, on the shiny and not so shiny aspects of the jewellery trade. She described the personal journey she undertook as a jeweller that lead her to fair trade.
The talk centered on the problems that arise when trying to obtain 'clean' gold both from an environmental and an ethical point of view. Angela had some interesting facts on gold production, for example it takes 20 tons of rock to produce one wedding band!
Angela stressed the importance of supporting the local artisans and their skills through fair trade and highlighted some local styles from Bali, Java and northern India.