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Ethical Policy

The jewellery trade is known as being resource intensive with detrimental effects on the physical and social environment. York School of Jewellery has a strong ethical policy that runs throught all aspects of its work. Within the workshop waste is kept to a minimum and all paper, cardboard, plastic and glass items are recycled. We actively encourage to students to make the most efficient use of materials and teach the processes required to reuse old items of jewellery thereby reducing the financial outlay and the impact on the environment.

York School of Jewellery sources materials from suppliers with a strong ethical principles such as Rubyfair.com. Rubyfair.com is a partnership between British jewellers and Tanzanian miners where both the miners welfare, the environment and ecology of the land are given careful consideration. With their own ruby mine in southern Tanzania Rubyfair.com supply untreated gemstones of the highest quality. Formed with a partnership between UK based Gary Roberts and Tanzanian Vedasto Kujwalire in 2008. The company has grown from a small scale miner to a large UK supplier of ethical natural ruby and sapphire to bespoke jewellers.

Pete Brown, Operational Director, under went GIA training as well as schooling in Tanzania with the companies gemstone cutter who has 37 years experience of gemstone cutting. Pete added "From personal visits and research we have built up a specific hand picked group of bespoke jewellers who want to know where their rubies and sapphires come from and how they were mined. From our feedback more and more clients want to know about conditions of miners and environmental impact and with mine and Gary's background in Zoology we can bring our expertise to the field."

 Ruby Fair miner

York School of Jewellery actively supports Ryedale Dog Rescue and St Leonards Hospice. There are official collection boxes for each of these charities in the workshop. The full fee for the taster sessions is donated to the charities of the particpants choice. Items - ranging from small tools and storage jars to home made boxes - are often avaliable courtesy of staff and students in exchange for a donation in one of the boxes.

Following a visit to the premier silversmith of Gambia, York School of Jewellery has collected and donated a collection of new and second hand tools for use in the Gambia.