Ethical sourcing should be the first step in creating any piece of jewellery. We believe it’s the right thing. We know it’s the right thing. Using sustainable materials and creating ethical business partnerships is the way forward not just for Taylor & Hart but for our peers across the jewellery supply chain, and our customers should expect nothing less.

To help you understand the strides we’ve taken and those we hope to accomplish, we’ve prepared a comprehensive guide to our ethical and sustainable policies and how they’ll impact your experience creating a ring with us.

We believe that transparency is the bedrock of sustainable design, so read on for a behind the scenes look at how your ethical engagement ring goes from dream to reality in a matter of weeks.

Take a look at our sustainably crafted wedding bands, that can be crafted with either Fairtrade or recycled metals.

We devote so much time to picking the cut, colour, clarity, and carat of our diamond—so why shouldn’t we be scrutinous when it comes to the origin of our gemstone? This is why we’re opening up our business practices to show you how we do things at Taylor & Hart, and to ensure you have peace of mind when purchasing from us.

The main shortcoming of the Kimberley Process is that it’s a voluntary scheme. No state can be forced to take up the Kimberley Process and there are diamond-producing countries who have declined this safeguarding standard.

Plus, conflict diamonds continue to enter the trade even from participating countries due to the lack of regular and independent monitoring. Without external auditing of a country’s performance on eliminating the trade of conflict diamonds—meaning expert, unbiased reviews of a country’s national control systems at pre-established intervals—the Kimberley Process isn’t going to be enough.

To remedy this, we are aiming to develop a branded in-house auditing process for our suppliers by 2022. We don’t want to have to rely on third party auditing to ensure that our diamond and gemstone supply is truly ethical. Human Rights Watch claims that a major shortcoming of many key-players in the jewellery industry is an over-dependance on legacy organisations with flawed systems of audits. By creating a system of due diligence ourselves, we will have a better level of quality control over our products.

Lab-grown diamonds—also known as ‘synthetic diamonds’ or ‘cultured diamonds’—are made in laboratories through two methods: a very small diamond ‘seed’ is either set in carbon and exposed to high pressure and temperatures or it is put in a chamber of superheated gas which causes the seed to replicate and grow. The result is a full sized diamond that’s physically and molecularly identical to a natural diamond mined from the earth.

Many of our customers come to us requesting a lab created diamond because of their reputation of affordability and sustainability. But it’s important to note that both lab-grown and natural diamonds have the power to do good in the world, and both have their shortcomings.

By introducing low-emission diamonds at Taylor & Hart, we’ll be both meeting our customers’ demand for lab-grown diamonds while also playing our part to drive the jewellery industry towards adopting low-emission materials across the board. Green energy lab-grown diamonds are an emerging product, but we’re already seeing businesses ramp-up production in harmony with consumer interest and we’re excited to be growing with suppliers who share our commitment to sustainability.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of a lab grown diamond is that they’re more affordable. A 0.50ct lab grown diamond can be approximately 40% cheaper than a natural diamond of the same size and quality, while a 1ct lab grown diamond can be as much as 70% cheaper than a natural counterpart. This can have a big effect on what you’re able to achieve with your lab grown diamond ring design while remaining within your price point.

While the savings are great, there is something to bear in mind. Lab grown diamonds may not maintain their market value in the future in the same way a natural diamond might. Many see purchasing a diamond as an investment, as something that will retain a monetary value while increasing in sentimental value.

While your lab grown diamond will only become more emotionally valuable to you with each passing day, the reality is the industry forecasts that in a few decades lab grown diamonds will cost just 10% of earth-mined diamonds, which will deflate the value of all existing lab grown diamonds.

Sri Lanka has strong policies to protect both workers and the environment. You can read more about Sri Lanka’s jewellery industry here.

Today, there are still far fewer ethical choices for platinum compared to gold or silver. Because global demand for platinum is dominated by the tech manufacturing industry, jewellery producers like us account for only a small percentage of platinum consumption each year. Although our voice may be small, we will continue to campaign the platinum industry for Fairmined standards over the next two years. And while we wait for the tech industry to follow suit, we will be transitioning to using either recycled platinum or platinum produced with a green energy supplier by 2023.