The Art and Culture Gold Conference, Shop Responsibly– Who You Buy Your Jewelry From Matters

I am a huge lover of jewelry– jewelry of all sorts.  I am a fan of costume as well as fine jewelry. As far as I could remember I recall playing with my mothers jewelry.  As soon as I was able to buy my own jewelry I did so with great pleasure.

No outfit is complete without the right jewelry.  But if I was to tell you to beware of the jewelry you buy.  Ask questions before making a purchase, what would you think of me? You may think me mad– what is there to think about?  You go to a legitimate store, they sell you the item, you paid for it, you broke no laws, you didn’t hurt anyone.

 

STEPHEN WEBSTER 18K WHITE GOLD CLEAR QUARTZ OVER GREEN AGATE FASHION RING WR1032

 

To a certain extent, you are absolutely right.  You did everything right, on your end.  But in today’s society where we are encouraged and expected to be socially responsible.  Know there is a history of each item you buy, so you should ask questions.  We can no longer live in ignorance and not feel the effect of it in our lives.  We are all connected somehow. Life is full circle.  We are now less than six degrees of separation.

I know you don’t want to think about this… that is not what you signed up for when you came on to a bridal magazine.  You simply came to help plan your wedding.  This is too heavy.  But ignorance doesn’t make you less responsible if you could have done something responsible.

 

Stephen Webster Bridal Jewelry www.stephenwebster.com

 

Each piece of fine jewelry has a story.  It did not begin with the retailer, it does not begin with the manufacturer, it does not begin with the distributor– there are so many layers.

While we are not trying to deter anyone from buying a piece of jewelry.  In fact, we want you to continue to buy– your purchases of these beautiful items create jobs, support families, and build communities.  And some of the resources such as the various metals, stones save lives in the medical field.  So we are all for supporting the economy when it comes to the jewelry industry.  We just want to advise you to do your research– ask the right questions and support businesses that act responsibly.

 




 

As editors, it is our job to share with you what is on the market and the beautiful things you may want to invest in.  It brings us great joy to share with you the beauty of the fashion industry.  But we also want to share with you the background stories of the items we found from varies companies history-social contributions that these companies make positive and negative and allow you the consumer to choose for yourself which company you want to support with your hard earned money.

We attended a conference this past Winter in New York City and heard some of the most profound conversations from industry professionals that make it their point to make sure that some of the jewelry pieces you invest in, from the brands you know act responsibly.  Thank you, Lisa Koenigsberg, Ph.D., President, for creating such a program and doing the research for us, the Initiatives in Art and Culture celebrated its Ninth Annual Gold Conference, entitled “GOLD: Legacy, Leadership, Luminescence, at the Bohemian National Hall.

 

Stay in love with beautiful things– shop responsibly.

 

 

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