As a newly registered Goldsmith with the Fairtrade Foundation, I’ll be documenting my journey into using traceable Gold.
First off, I’ll be showing you how and what I made as my very first pieces using Fairtrade Gold.
Fairtrade Gold grain in a melting crucible. This ‘grain’ is how I receive it from the FT registered supplier.
I’ve been aware of the option to use Fairtrade Gold for a couple years now, and had yet to make the commitment to learning more about it and how I could set my business up to offer FT Gold to my clients.
Covid has given me the time to reflect and re-focus. Having shows cancelled and orders slowing down over the last year gave me the time to adapt my way of working and really focus on what is important to me and my business.
The Fairtrade foundation works with exclusive small mines that have committed to ethical working practices that protect the environment and their workers. I learnt that there is a premium on the price of Fairtrade Gold that is paid collectively to workers at the mines, and they are in control of how it is distributed. For example this can be used as they feel best, for healthcare, education, PPE or other ways of supporting their own community.
You can find out ore about Fairtrade Gold from the official website here www.fairtrade.org.uk/buying-fairtrade/gold/
To give you an insight into the process of purchasing your own Fairtrade Gold items I’ll share some pictures from the making of my first pieces in FT Gold, a pair of wedding bands in 9ct Gold.
Both rings (see finished photo) came out of what seemed like a very small amount of grain, so I was a little worried at first that I’d done my calculations wrong! But as you can see when I work on the ingot it turns into a longer, thinner piece of wire that was exactly as the client had ordered. I periodically heat up the wire as I work with it so that it does not crack under the pressure of the rolling mill. And over time the wire is stretched into the desired shape and length.
Melting the Gold grain in a crucible to make an ingot
Fairtrade Gold grain melted into a small bar /ingot
The Gold ingot is being worked into a wire.
Finished Fairtrade 9ct Gold wedding bands
