The United Nations adopted the SDGs, and "sustainability" has become a keyword worldwide.
R ethical is the first brand in Japan to receive the Fairmined Gold Certification in 2013. Since our launch, we have been creating jewelry for women with a policy as an ethical and luxury brand that mainly uses K18YG.
We would like to tell you about the sustainability of jewelry and what R ETHICAL is thinking and working on.
◼︎R ethical aims to create a “sustainable future” through beautiful jewelry
R ethical has granted permission in Japan to use the Fairmined certification label, which is mined at small-scale mines affiliated with the international non-profit organization Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM). This is the first jewelry brand that I have acquired.
Jewelry is something that clings to the skin like breathing, and when worn, it becomes a part of the person. In addition, it continues to fascinate people even today, as a form of expressing love and intentions, and as a symbol of things that carry people's feelings for a long time throughout history.
That's why I hope that it will give us an opportunity to think about a sustainable future from our daily lives, beyond our daily lives.
The current situation surrounding gold mining is that many countries are concerned about child labor and forced labor, as well as health damage and environmental pollution caused by the dangerous handling of chemicals, in a dangerous working environment.
ARM is an international non-profit organization that promotes ensuring the health and safety of workers and social security at mining sites, eradicating child labor, ensuring production traceability, and reducing and managing harmful substances such as mercury. We have unique partnerships with small-scale mines in Central and South America, Asia, and Africa, and award the gold mined there with Fairmined Certification.
In 2013, R ETHICAL was the first company in Japan to receive the Fairmined Certified Gold label. For example, in 2018, Chaumet, a well-known high-end jewelry brand, announced that it would use Fairmined certified gold for all its jewelry and watches. Demand for ethical gold is increasing worldwide, and the annual trading volume at ARM is 435 kg of gold (approximately 150 million yen premium) (as of October 2018, see ARM) . It will continue to spread.
Sustainability is a growing trend in the jewelery industry, but it is a must-have requirement in all sectors around the world.
The world is being polluted, ocean resources are being depleted, carbon dioxide is increasing, global warming is on the rise, and many plants and animals are on the verge of extinction, and business, political, and non-governmental organizations must all come together to take action on a global scale. Masu.
These overlapping layers and the intricately intertwined causal relationships on a global scale cannot be solved with just one solution. I think this is a very important thing that is needed.
◼︎If we could increase the number of people who live brightly with sustainable materials
I have one mother and two grandmothers. My grandmothers, who lived bright lives despite the challenges of the times, had two mothers and four grandmothers. I've never met him.
I have two beautiful daughters, Lisa and Sarah. They are only 9 and 5 years old. Maybe we'll get married someday, maybe we won't. If life continues, I will have grandchildren, and those grandchildren may or may not have children again. I might be able to hold those children. It may not be possible.
However, what I wish for is to not suffer, to enjoy the rich nature, eat nutritious food, connect with people, and live a culturally rich life.Although it may be called ego, it is a fundamental personal desire. My thoughts.
A life weaving. past and future. And we live in the meantime.
A sentence contained in the R ethical flyer
“Revolving life, circulating nature, and weaving our future.”
Although we are a company that provides jewelry, we believe that we want more people to live like one Earth, to make their lives shine, and to do that, we should use ethical materials, and we should be able to repay them in return. It would be great if the earth wouldn't be polluted by not using mercury, and it would be great if the people who wear jewelry could shine with ethical materials. I am expressing this very primitive and essential point.
R ETHICAL exists with the feeling that if ethical jewelry exists as an intention beyond the things around us, we can make a small contribution to the world as we move toward the still-unseen future.
◼︎May happiness spread through jewelry that will enchant you as if you are falling in love.
R ethical jewelry is made one by one by craftsmen in Japan, using gold mined primarily in Peru and combining it with natural stones. We create products with a focus on things that make your heart flutter, things that are as captivating as falling in love, without being ethical. Rather than focusing on marketing strategies targeting the mass market, our approach is to create jewelry that excites, fascinates, and satisfies, and is based on scientific evidence.
Also, I believe that the only way we can respond is by valuing each and every customer who chooses us, not by comparing ourselves to other companies or competing with them, and it would be wonderful if ethical issues became one of the opportunities. You should be free to choose or not. It's not something to impose, it's not something to deny. Especially when it comes to ethical issues, we value a neutral stance.
The joy of running a brand is that R ETHICAL's activities become a source of awareness, a source of healing, and a starting point for moving forward in life. My greatest joy is that by picking up R ethical, a cycle of happiness is created for the people who mine, the craftsmen who create, and the connected world. We would like to move forward as a Japanese jewelry brand, seeking the life that circulates, the nature that circulates, and the future that we create.
December 13, 2018
R ETHICAL representative designer
R Jewels Japan Co., Ltd. CEO Mari Hoshi