Ethical Sourcing

Policy on Conflict Diamonds

Diamonds are meant to be a gift of love, and we at Hyde Park Jewelers abhor the way in which some gems have been used to fund conflict. To prevent the sale of conflict diamonds, governments, our industry and human-rights groups created the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) in 2002, which today regulates 99% of the worldwide rough diamond supply.

We require all of our suppliers to provide us with a written warranty, stating that their diamonds come from Kimberley-certified sources and are not involved in funding conflict. The warranty statement, which was officially recognized at the creation of the Kimberley Process, reads:

The diamonds herein invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with the United Nations Resolutions. The seller hereby guarantees that these diamonds are conflict free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the suppliers of these diamonds.

Responsible Mining Standards

Hyde Park Jewelers supports jewelry industry associations, such as Jewelers of America and concerned nongovernmental organizations, such as EARTHWORKS and Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) to encourage responsible mining practices.

As a member of the Responsible Jewelry Council (RJC), Hyde Park is committed to reinforcing consumer confidence in the jewelry industry by adhering to the Principles and Code of Practices developed by RJC, which outlines responsible business practices throughout the diamond and gold jewelry supply chain.

Hyde Park is supportive of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) in establishing a voluntary system of environmental, human rights and social standards for mining operations. By working collaboratively, this diverse group of stakeholders will develop a consensus-based, third-party certification standard for responsible mining.

Statement on Hard Rock Mining

Hyde Park Jewelers actively opposes inappropriate mine development on environmentally and culturally sensitive lands. We support the reform of the General Mining Law of 1872 and legislation to assist in cleaning up abandoned hardrock mines. We agree with many in the environmental community, the mining industry and Congress that an overhaul of the federal mining law is long overdue. Hyde Park also understands that achieving mining law reform will require hard work, negotiation, compromise and creativity in a public, transparent process.

We believe that mining on our public lands should be a privilege and must be carefully measured against alternative uses, including recreation and conservation. Most importantly, we recognize that some public lands are simply not suitable for mining, and that their value for recreation and conservation is far greater than their value as a source of minerals.

If reforms are to succeed, we believe that taxpayers must be fairly compensated for minerals taken from public lands, protection of the environment must be enhanced and business certainty for companies and communities dependent on mining must be improved.

Statement on Responsible Gold

We are fully committed to the responsible sourcing of gold and other minerals that make their way into jewelry products. Whenever possible, Hyde Park Jewelers procures recycled metals (including gold, platinum and sterling silver) to use in repairs and manufactured pieces. We believe gold should be extracted and processed in a manner that respects the needs of people and the earth.

We strongly believe in the goals of the conflict minerals law, which Congress passed as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in order to target conflict minerals, including gold, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and surrounding region. We fully condemn the use of any minerals to fund conflict in the DRC, in its adjoining countries or anywhere in the world.
 

We encourage our business partners to adhere to responsible business practices. With that in mind, we are actively asking our suppliers to affirm to us, in writing, their commitment to the responsible sourcing of gold.

We believe a commitment to responsible gold must include suppliers, to ensure that responsible practices are addressed at every point in the supply chain. Without the engagement of all segments of our industry, retailers' individual pledges to source responsibly will not be meaningful.

We strongly support the efforts of our trade association, Jewelers of America (JA), to collectively ensure good practices at every level of the supply chain. JA actively participates in and supports initiatives such as the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), the Diamond Development Initiative International (DDII), and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA). We are therefore very much involved in, not only ensuring we understand the issues as they stand, but in helping to resolve them.