Member Article

Family firms lead move towards responsibly sourced jewellery

Two of the UK’s oldest family-run businesses have joined forces in an industry-leading move to bring responsibly mined jewellery to the high street, continuing a relationship that has lasted more than 100 years.

Luxury jeweller, Boodles now offers consumers a range of new jewellery products made using ‘Single Mine Origin’ (SMO) gold. The traceable metal is being provided by Birmingham-based precious metal refiner and manufacturer, The Betts Group and African gold producer, Hummingbird Resources PLC.

Boodles will manufacture and sell gold jewellery produced from a single, responsibly operated mining operation in West Africa, with the gold remaining fully segregated from mine to finished product.

The first collaboration of its kind in the UK, the partnership extends a trading relationship between two historic family firms. The Betts Group, which has been operating since 1760, is run by the ninth generation of the Betts family. It first started refining metals for Boodles, which has been steered by six generations of the Wainwrights, more than a century ago.

Mining partner, Hummingbird, was founded by managing director Daniel Betts, who is also part of the family that runs the The Betts Group, giving unrivalled oversight of the chain of custody of SMO Gold.

Betts Group’s managing director, Charlie Betts, said: “We’re very proud to be at the forefront of creating fully traceable, responsibly-sourced gold and to be working with Boodles and Hummingbird to deliver associated products to the UK market. It’s unique for two families to have maintained such a long-lasting relationship. Most gold is complex to trace, in part because gold in jewellery is typically melted together from a variety of sources. We feel that Boodles will be the first of many jewelers to use SMO gold, as consumers become increasingly concerned about the provenance of the products they buy.”

Jody Wainwright, director at Boodles, said: “We’ve worked with the Betts family for generations. SMO gold is sustainable and ethically sourced, things which are important to a family business like ours. It ensures traceability on the whole supply chain of the metal, meaning that our customers can wear jewellery with pride knowing that it comes from a responsible source. Betts control the entire process, from production at the mine, smelting and refining and then delivering into our hands. We are proud to announce that this exciting source of gold is now being used in Boodles’ jewellery designs.”

Produced from the Yanfolila gold mine in Mali, SMO certified gold can be traced to a single mine which must adhere to a number of strict CSR guidelines. The Yanofilia mine first poured gold in December 2017 and has already indicated and inferred resources of over 1.5m ounces of gold whilst continuing to explore.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Janet Curry .