The use of natural materials in jewellery (Использование натуральных материалов в ювелирных украшениях)

Content
Introduction
Part I. The history of natural jewellery and its contemporary condition
Traditions of manufacturing the jewellery from natural materials
The jewellery development in 20th century
Modern jewellery trends
Cutting-edge exibitions
Part II. Problems of usage natural materials in jewellery and possible solutions
Life of diamonds, the kings of jewellery
Problems connected with the diamonds’ mining
The Kimberley Process
Gemstone industry and environmental problems
Protecting corals
Usage of ivory in modern jewellery
The Madison Dialogue as a regulation instrument
The contemporary top-jewelers of the world
Melissa Joy Manning
Anthony Roussel
Sebastian Buescher
Conclusions
Bibliography

The use of natural materials in jewellery
(Использование натуральных материалов в ювелирных украшениях)

irradiation hazards for operators, suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers;
pollution of bays and oceans through waste products from harvesting pearl oysters;
dragging nets along the seafloor for harvesting blue, red, and black corals;
killing elephants, seals, walruses, narwhals, and sea tortoises for horns, shells, and ivories.
Gold mining is also one of the most destroying industries all around the world. During the process of extracting and manufacturing gold a lot of water and land is polluted with mercury and cyanide. Gold mining jeopardizes the health of people and ecosystems. For example, production of a single simple wedding ring generates 20 tons of mine waste. Moreover gold mining also displaces communities, supplants traditional livelihoods, and jeopardizes nature preserves.
Nowadays some “anti-gold-mining” does exist, for example, “The No Dirty Gold Campaign” gives to an every person in the world an opportunity to become part of the global movement for responsible gold mining.
The same situation does in other spheres exist. Exotic woods are not sacred by themselves. But people take down one tree out of a thousand and burn the rest, in a habitat that harbors thousands of species and provides the air that we breathe is obscenely shortsighted. Is a hand turned bowl worth that price?
Gold and diamonds are not bad by themselves, but when they might come from South Africa, when the suppliers won’t specify their source, when they may stink of apartheid and slavery, well, that’s a heavy burden for a pair of earrings.
But in addition to placing burden into the things that we make, we must look at the burdens that our objects already bear.
There are also two luminous visions, neither metal nor stone, which have intoxicated us all – pearl and glass. Glass is a chronically produced jewel created by the fusion of substances in high temperatures. Pearls are produced by oyster to counteract an irritant within its shell, an organic jewel formed of the nacre with which the mollusk lines the inner surface of its shell.
Complete shells of other mollusks, or pieces cut from them, ivory from the elephant, coral and the fossil resin amber are other softly gleaming animal jewels.
The problems in social and economic aspects do exist in the diamond’s mining. They are connected with a concept of conflict or blood diamonds. These are diamonds that are sold to fund the unlawful and illegal wars of rebel groups seeking to overthrow internationally recognized governments.
There are a few regulations in this sphere, one of them is co called Kimberley Process. The goals of it are to document and track all rough diamonds entering a participating country to assure manufacturers, retailers and consumers that the diamonds they are purchasing are conflict-free. In order for a country to be a participant, they must ensure that:
1) any diamond originating from the country does not finance a rebel group or any entity seeking to overthrow a UN-recognized government;