Jewellery Between Product and Experience: Luxury …
9
Africa partners with female artisans and sells their handcrafted products worldwide.
Despite the modern formal appearance, workmanship and materials used for making
the jewellery items are those characteristics of the communities in which the artefacts
were made. All the proceeds from the sales, together with the donations, are invested
by the organization in education programmes for the artisans who make the products.
The work of Riccardo Dalisi, then, combines the theme of training and social
inclusion with recycling craftsmanship, providing for the recovery of waste materials to transform them into something new, according to the dynamics of circular
economy. Recycling craftsmanship in fact starts from the transformation of materials that would have otherwise reached the end of their life cycle: thanks to design
thinking and creativity, the waste materials are transformed into quality products.
Riccardo Dalisi was among the first to use poor materials, such as tin, paper, copper,
iron, sheet metal, ceramics, glass, wood, fabric, patiently turning them into pieces of
jewellery. Self-produced pieces made by hand in his workshop, often with the help
of unemployed youngsters to whom he taught a profession, demonstrating that, in a
city like Naples afflicted by the waste emergency, jewellery could also have a social
value. Dalisi introduced the topic of scrap in jewellery, proving that preciousness
is not only that of materials and that tin and paper can have the same dignity as
gold and diamonds. For Dalisi, in fact, the difference derives from the need for an
ethical vision of jewellery that shuns the preciousness of materials to the benefit of
creativity.
2.3 Respecting the Environment
Not only maximizing the social impact, but also minimizing the negative effects on
the environment. Pollution in the jewellery sector is often linked to the choice and
supply of raw materials.
The extraction of gold, one of the most used materials in jewellery, has over
time not only caused the eviction of indigenous communities from the regions concerned, but also polluted the aquifers with chemicals—such as cyanide and mercury—which are used for the extraction of the precious metal from the mineral.
Industry is now directing its efforts towards certifying gold meeting international
sustainability standards.
Among the forerunners, Chopard, which already in 2013 initiated a programme
dedicated to ethical and sustainable jewellery launching the first Green Carpet Collection with Fairmined Gold—that is extracted in certified mines—and diamonds
from a producer certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council. The Maison since
2018 uses ethical gold in 100% of the production. Chopard purchases the precious
metal exclusively from traceable routes.
The precious stones sector has also taken an active role in promoting sustainability,
as shown, for example, by the activities of the Kimberley Process, the certification
agreement developed and approved with the joint effort of the governments of many
countries, of multinationals diamond producers, and civil society.
9
Africa partners with female artisans and sells their handcrafted products worldwide.
Despite the modern formal appearance, workmanship and materials used for making
the jewellery items are those characteristics of the communities in which the artefacts
were made. All the proceeds from the sales, together with the donations, are invested
by the organization in education programmes for the artisans who make the products.
The work of Riccardo Dalisi, then, combines the theme of training and social
inclusion with recycling craftsmanship, providing for the recovery of waste materials to transform them into something new, according to the dynamics of circular
economy. Recycling craftsmanship in fact starts from the transformation of materials that would have otherwise reached the end of their life cycle: thanks to design
thinking and creativity, the waste materials are transformed into quality products.
Riccardo Dalisi was among the first to use poor materials, such as tin, paper, copper,
iron, sheet metal, ceramics, glass, wood, fabric, patiently turning them into pieces of
jewellery. Self-produced pieces made by hand in his workshop, often with the help
of unemployed youngsters to whom he taught a profession, demonstrating that, in a
city like Naples afflicted by the waste emergency, jewellery could also have a social
value. Dalisi introduced the topic of scrap in jewellery, proving that preciousness
is not only that of materials and that tin and paper can have the same dignity as
gold and diamonds. For Dalisi, in fact, the difference derives from the need for an
ethical vision of jewellery that shuns the preciousness of materials to the benefit of
creativity.
2.3 Respecting the Environment
Not only maximizing the social impact, but also minimizing the negative effects on
the environment. Pollution in the jewellery sector is often linked to the choice and
supply of raw materials.
The extraction of gold, one of the most used materials in jewellery, has over
time not only caused the eviction of indigenous communities from the regions concerned, but also polluted the aquifers with chemicals—such as cyanide and mercury—which are used for the extraction of the precious metal from the mineral.
Industry is now directing its efforts towards certifying gold meeting international
sustainability standards.
Among the forerunners, Chopard, which already in 2013 initiated a programme
dedicated to ethical and sustainable jewellery launching the first Green Carpet Collection with Fairmined Gold—that is extracted in certified mines—and diamonds
from a producer certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council. The Maison since
2018 uses ethical gold in 100% of the production. Chopard purchases the precious
metal exclusively from traceable routes.
The precious stones sector has also taken an active role in promoting sustainability,
as shown, for example, by the activities of the Kimberley Process, the certification
agreement developed and approved with the joint effort of the governments of many
countries, of multinationals diamond producers, and civil society.