Martin Rapaport on Fair Trade Diamonds & Jewelery
Santa Fe, New Mexico: Reflective Images, a designer jewelry firm, announces the free Ebook for the jewelry trade entitled: THE ETHICAL JEWELRY HANDBOOK (A Resource Guide for the jewelry sector wishing to adopt exceptional standards and radical transparency: Fair, Responsible, Ecological System.)
The book provides articles and information for those in the jewelry sector wishing to be more ecologically and socially responsible in their business practices. It is also a handbook which explains how any company can implement the FRE System, which offers customers a detailed insight into the supply chain, from the mine to the showroom, for all components of every finished piece of jewelry the company sells.
The term FRE, empowers customers to make decisions based on a product’s: F= Fair labor; R= Social Responsibility and E=Ecological impact. It’s an "open source" model, said Marc Choyt, president of Reflective Images and author of the work.
"If the Fair Labeling Organizations (FLO) are analogous to a closed operating system, such as Microsoft, our FRE system is analogous to Linux. Any jewelry company can make it their own,” said Choyt.
Reflective Images (http://www.celticjewelry.com) developed the FRE system because, in the current market, terminology such as "fair trade jewelry" and "eco jewelry" are practically meaningless. Choyt, who is working on a Madison Dialog committee to develop international third party fair trade standards for jewelry manufacturing, knows that this processes take years. He has implemented the FRE system on his website. His second commercial website, http://www.artisanweddingrings.com will also have the FRE system up soon.
“This book is the start of a project hopefully supported by the larger community in the ethical jewelry sector. Anyone who has information, articles, or supply sources can contact me. They will be included and listed as a contributor to future versions of the book,” said Choyt.
Choyt writes about ethical jewelry issues at www.fairjewelry.org, the most important source in the sector for those seeking to learn the politics, sourcing and production of ethical jewelry. His seminal article on the ethical jewelry sector was recently published in Modern Jeweler.
Reflective Images, was established in 1995. It sells jewelry through its website, from its store and to approximately 75 jewelry stores around the country. In 2006, it was named one of Santa Fe, New Mexico's most visionary businesses.
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