Responsibility + Reciprocity at NYC Jewelry Week 2023
The content of this article reflects the views of the writer, and not necessarily those of Ethical Metalsmiths. This article was written for The Source.
Andrea Hansen, Marla Aaron, and Zulaikha Aziz. Photo by Chloe Beaumont.
Redefining Responsibility
Moderated by Andrea Hansen, w/ Marla Aaron and Zulaikha Aziz at MAD Museum
The first event I attended to kick off NYC Jewelry Week this year was a panel moderated by Andrea Hansen featuring jewelry designers Marla Aaron and Zulaikha Aziz of Mazahri. Both designers, although their aesthetic differs greatly, are committed to sustainability in many aspects of their respective businesses.
Andrea Hansen stepped in to moderate this panel in place of Monica Stephenson (full disclosure: Monica Stephenson a board member of Ethical Metalsmiths), who was unable to attend due to a family emergency. She did a phenomenal job and made everyone feel at ease as Marla and Zulaikha shared stories about their backgrounds and the struggles they have overcome. Marla has fought tooth and nail to ensure that her pieces are locally crafted in New York City, a feat that many choose to avoid because it would be cheaper to produce overseas. She shared how she has stood by the vendors that believed in her from the beginning when no one else did.
“The most sustainable thing to do is sustain the people who helped you build a business.”
Another point I found interesting was that Marla doesn’t believe in “certification for certification’s sake.” To her, unless you can uplift and bring along the craftspeople and jewelers that you’ve partnered with, it’s not worth it. She makes a good point and poses a question that we should all ask ourselves: does the certification that you are chasing truly benefit everyone in your supply chain? If so, great. If not: why? Marla’s ability to center people over profit while still making iconic functional jewelry is really inspiring to me. Marla is also the proud founder of the #lockyourmom project that gives single moms her sterling silver Baby Heartlocks every year.
Zulaikha Aziz, originally a human rights attorney who still practices today, joined the jewelry industry more recently but with no less passion. On the panel, Zulaikha shared how her family fled from Afghanistan during the invasion of the then-Soviet Union, and how the only thing her grandmother took with her was their family jewelry. At great risk to herself, Zulaikha’s grandmother Mazahri hid the jewelry under her clothes so as not to be identified by those who would persecute them. Her family’s story blew me away and reminded me of the power and importance of jewelry. Jewelry is a history-bearer, a legacy keeper, and an investment that can be sold if needed.
“Stay true to yourself because that’s what folks are probably going to be drawn to: your unique point of view.”
Zulaikha emphasized the importance of staying true to yourself and your vision, and she takes great care to only source gemstones that fall under her standards of the utmost responsibility. Even though this sometimes limits the gem varieties she can design with, she does not mind and continues to make colorful, bold jewelry using Afghan motifs. Mazahri donates 10% of all profits to Women for Afghan Women International, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of Afghan women and girls.
Jewelry With Purpose: Aligning the Sparkle with Sustainable Development
Peruvian Consulate
JB Jones, Representatives from the The Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network, Susan Wheeler and Andrea Jose speaking on a panel at the Peruvian Consulate. Photo by Chloe Beaumont.
Wednesday, November 15th was a full day at the Peruvian Consulate, starting with a panel discussion about the UN Sustainable Development Goals and incorporating them into your jewelry business.
Susan Wheeler and Andrea Jose are both involved with the UN’s Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network, a platform “for industry stakeholders, media, Governments, and UN system entities. The network showcases and enables collaborations that accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
Once accepted to the network after passing the thorough application process, jewelry and fashion brands alike get to display their company or initiative on the UN’s website, along with a description of the project and the SDG goals that are being incorporated.
Susan Wheeler shared how helpful this process is for her because it provides a framework and structure for implementing the SDGs. Both she and Andrea said that most people are already implementing at least one SDG in the way they run their business; responsible brands will not have a hard time recognizing how they are incorporating more than one.
Jen Marraccino, Alberto Sansiberio, Chloe Beaumont, Rebecca Villalobos and Andrea Jose speaking at the Peruvian Consulate. Photo by Mariya Nicole.
Responsible Artisanal Mining of Gold and Gemstones: A Way Forward
The evening at the consulate continued with another panel, one which I was very fortunate to be on representing ANZA Gems.
My fellow panelists included Alberto Sansiberio from Brilliant Earth, Jen Marraccino of Pure Earth and jewelry designer and Reciprocity participant Andrea Jose. Rebecca Villalobos, an independent sustainability adviser, moderated the panel and facilitated an honest discussion about ASM gold and gemstone mining, what reciprocity means to each of us, and how we have incorporated reciprocity in each of our respective spaces.
For a little bit of background, it was the second year that Reciprocity exhibited at the Peruvian Consulate. This year, a group of 13 international jewelry designers partnered with a network of female artisanal miners that Andrea Jose is connected to in the Madre Dios region of Peru. All the gold and silver used in the designs came exclusively from two of these women miners, and ANZA Gems had donated many of the Moyo Gems colored gemstones used in the Reciprocity designer’s pieces. Each jewelry piece came with an NFT that included a description of the origin of the materials and the people involved. Twenty percent of net sales from the pieces will be donated to Pure Earth.
In case you missed the livestream of our panel, here are some of my thoughts that I wrote down before the panel (but didn’t necessarily share all of).....
Reciprocity is about giving back and paying it forward. Mining in and of itself is extractive— but it does NOT have to be exploitative. That’s a very important distinction to make. At ANZA Gems, we believe that mining and buying natural gemstones responsibly can have vast positive impacts, which we’ve already seen, and can help empower otherwise very marginalized people.
I think there’s a lot of fear of change in this industry, but we hope Moyo Gems serves as a model to show people that creating a positive legacy is not impossible. If you go to an area and make assumptions, you’re probably going to end up exploiting people. If you go somewhere and ask questions and listen to what miners actually need and want, then you have an opportunity to meet needs without simply dropping in, doing business and leaving.
As a bonus I’ll leave you with a couple questions posed by my boss Monica Stephenson, who couldn’t be there:
“What is the true cost of the traditional idea of “buy low/sell high” extractive model that has been the industry default? What if we take fairness and equity into account when we look at our supply chains?”
Christina Malle showing her jewelry pieces to guests at the Reciprocity reception. Photo by Mariya Nicole.
Opening Reciprocity Reception
The part of the evening everyone was excitedly waiting for: the opening reception of Reciprocity!
The group of designers this year included Andrea Jose, Amulet by D, Barbosa, Christina Malle, Cocoe Row, Dana Bronfman, Delphine Leymarie, Inesa Kovalova, Iza by Silvia D’Avila, Kathryn the Younger, M4t3ri4, Maria Chercoles, and Susan Wheeler Designs. Each piece was crafted in collaboration with local Peruvian goldsmiths and Casa Collab, a B Corp certified jewelry studio that supports the Jarapay Jewelry School in the Amazon Rainforest.
The reciprocity designers at the Peruvian Consulate. Photo by Mariya Nicole.
It was a packed house at the Peruvian Consulate as we all enjoyed Piscos and Peruvian appetizers while gawking at the endless creativity in the Reciprocity designs.
Jacqueline Barbosa’s designs and accompanying description plaque. Photos by Chloe Beaumont.
Andrea Jose welcomed everyone to the reception. Photo by Chloe Beaumont.
Not only did I get to see how the designers chose to incorporate our Moyo Gems, but we got to have a little corner display dedicated to Moyo with more gems and information that people could read. We couldn’t have been happier with the opportunity to collaborate, and we hope that between all of us we can encourage even more designers out there to use artisanal, traceable gold and responsibly sourced gemstones.
ANZA Moyo Gems on display at the Peruvian Consulate. Photo by Chloe Beaumont.
EM members and friends gathered at Bario Neal for the RJM reception. Photo courtesy of Cristina Villegas.
Rejeweled: Radical Jewelry Makeover Reception
The last event centered around responsible sourcing that I attended was on Friday morning at the lovely Bario Neal Brooklyn location.
“Rejeweled” was a competition to see which designer could make the most interesting piece of jewelry using entirely recycled materials in a unique way. The materials had all been donated through Radical Jewelry Makeover (did you know you can donate your unwanted jewelry too?) and included metals, beads, gemstones and costume jewelry parts.
Two of the pieces made from entirely recycled materials at the RJM Rejeweled exhibit. Photos by Chloe Beaumont.
Again, I was blown away by the creativity of all the 21 participating designers. Radical Jewelry Makeover, co-directed by Ethical Metalsmiths members Kathleen Kennedy and Susie Ganch, remains an amazing recycling project focused on education and collaboration. (Full disclosure: Kathleen Kennedy and Susie Ganch both serve on EM’s Board and Advisory council.)
Click HERE to learn more about each of the participating designers.
We’ve started a tradition of this NYC Jewelry Week event becoming a mini-Ethical Metalsmiths meetup of sorts–it was so good to see everyone who made it!
To sum it all up:
New York City Jewelry week is not only worth it for the jewels, but also for the conversations and networking. I was encouraged to see many events focused on responsible sourcing return again this year, as well as new panels and exhibits talking about important topics such as sustainable supply chains, traceability, or reinvesting in mining communities. The events I mentioned above were only *some* of the events centered around positive impact and responsibly sourced jewelry and gemstones; I wish I could have gone to them all!
If you’ve been debating whether to make the trip next year, I’d highly recommend going. I can nearly guarantee that you’ll leave with more insights, inspiration, and connections than you had at the start.
“We are a small team of passionate jewelry industry professionals and writers. We’d appreciate your support to grow our team and continue to be able to provide the best responsible jewelry content for years to come!”
Something we rarely talk about to the extent that it is almost taboo is what happens with a break-in, burglary or even a hold-up: How do we deal with the aftermath?