Good morning beauties! So excited for this weekend as I am having a “girls weekend” away with some of my girlfriends and I can’t wait. I also had a fantastic ending to London’s Fashion Week, as I was invited by The Upcoming to attend a few shows. You can read my reviews and articles here. But today on the blog I want to talk to you about something a little more important, one of the joys of running your own business is the fact that you can choose the types of brands and companies you want to work with. And as you know I will always include in my website, products and brands that I absolutely 100% believe in. That is why I was very glad when I received this project from Ingle & Rhode an Ethical Jewellery company based in London (appointments only) that have make their paramount to work ONLY with unconflicted diamonds.
I loved reading that David Rhode started the company when he was looking for an engagement ring and while he couldn’t find a jeweller who could tell him where their diamonds had come from, or the conditions under which their Jewellery was produced. This made him looked more into the industry, the more compromises he discovered he was being asked to make. From blood diamonds, to dirty gold, to sweatshops and child labour.
Together David and his friend Tim Ingle launched Ingle & Rhode in 2007 to offer an ethical alternative to the traditional luxury brands.
As somebody whom recently got married, I was shocked to find out that during the 1990s and the first decade of this century, hundreds of thousands of people were killed in wars fuelled by diamonds, across Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone. Even today, blood diamonds from the Cote d’Ivoire, eastern DRC, and Zimbabwe continue to enter the market. Furthermore, many diamonds, even conflict-free diamonds, are cut and polished in sweatshop conditions, often by children, for wages that are inadequate for even the most basic standard of living.
Conscious of this I was so glad to hear that Ingle & Rhode source Canadian diamonds, that are mined under strict regulations imposed by the government of the Northwest Territories, and cut and polished according to guidelines established by the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices. They are fully traceable, and the larger stones are laser-inscribed.
They have also found ethical sources for almost all types of coloured gemstones, including ruby, sapphire, emerald, tanzanite, peridot, amethyst, aquamarine, citrine, and tourmaline. Most of our coloured gemstones come from small-scale mining cooperatives where the wealth generated by mining is directly retained by the local communities. Others come from ethical producers in the US and Australia.
With a fabulous selection of engagement rings Ingle & Rhode are an honest option to consider. I wish I could have been more knowledgeable about this before. But it’s never late to start making a conscious effort toward our jewellery choices and the sustaintability of our accessories.
Wearing here the Dropet pendant
Thank you Ingle & Rhode for Sponsoring this post.
