Ethical Precious Metal Sourcing

At The Village Goldsmith, we pride ourselves on the quality of our craftsmanship and endeavour to ensure that all materials used in the crafting of our jewellery are of excellent quality and ethically sourced. It is important to us that all our crafting processes, including diamond and precious metal sourcing, offer transparency so that our customers can understand where each element of their jewellery has come from. 

All the reputable precious metal refiners we buy our materials from have gone to great lengths to verify and secure the origin of their precious metal sources along with their refining processes. Most precious metal is recycled and upcycled so it can be reused in the production of new items.  

When jewellery is crafted, a portion of the material worked remains unused. That’s why we’ve put many processes in place in our workshop to save and reprocess as much precious metal as possible. For example, after every piece is crafted, our meticulous jewellers sweep all the precious metal fine filings and dust off their benches to collect any unused metal. These recycled filings and dust are then melted and refined to return the precious metals to a pure state. The pure metals are then recycled into a fabricated product. This keeps our costs low for our clients and reduces the need to refine new metal.  Below is a video showcasing this process:  

Existing jewellery and/or precious metals can in most cases be reused and recrafted into new jewellery. In these instances, the precious metals are tested and verified before being melted down and upcycled.   

Precious metal sourcing can be understood as a cycle as follows:  

We ensure that whether this process is done in our workshop or outsourced to a trusted third party, that the method of refining is safe for the team doing it and has minimal effect on the environment. The companies which we source our precious metals from aim to benefit the environment, protect human rights, and uphold social responsibility.  

Our precious metal suppliers demand evidence from their sources and support them in implementing these values across their supply chain. All Village Goldsmith suppliers are either a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) themselves or validate that all metal sourced comes from an accredited organisation - either a member of the RJC or the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association). These organisations have a mutual goal to strengthen relationships between consumers and companies, through consumer trust and manufacturer transparency.   

The Village Goldsmith's aim is to be transparent with our customers and to clearly display our methods of material sourcing and operations. We want to ensure our valued clients can be confident that all precious metals used in Village Goldsmith jewellery are sourced from reputable and ethical suppliers. 

Now that you've read about our precious metal sourcing practices, learn about the types of precious metals we use in our workshop in our precious metals buying guide. You can also shop our engagement ring and fine jewellery collections. 

If you have any further questions about our material sourcing and/or crafting practices, please get in touch. Alternatively, if you’re in Wellington we welcome you to visit our showroom and watch our jewellery being crafted on-site at our workshop.