ethics in the diamond jewelry business
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
I've recently started a jewelry business. Along the way, I've discovered a thing or two.
For instance, there's plenty wrong with the ethics of the jewelry industry as it is now practiced. Ecological devastation, humanitarian atrocities, economic exploitation .. it's a mess.
Naturally, as jewelers, we want to do something about it. But we're finding that our clientele by and large are disinterested in the stories of woe behind the sourcing and manufacture of the products that they're interested in. So what are we to do. I'm writing a series of articles for a UK-based blog that explores exactly that. It starts with this rather stark introduction to the facts, and will finish with our plans to, if not change the world, then at least offer some options for progress.