Sourcing Materials & Suppliers
The jewelry you wear doesn’t just magically pop out of thin air. It is crafted over a long period of time and travels across a huge supply chain. From mining all the way to retail, jewelry companies go to the ends of the Earth to make sure their product is crafted the way they want it. But how do they keep track of everything with so many different steps? And how do they go about getting all the materials and suppliers in the first place?
There are three ways that your average Joe, indie jeweler goes about finding suppliers and manufacturers. First, they can search organically through the power of Google. This is a place for those who are just starting their business or those who have a specific materials issue they need to be solved. Another way is going directly to a retailer or manufacturer’s website if they have more experience with their process. The final way jewelers source their materials is through word of mouth. If they have a lot of experience and contacts, they can find suppliers through their network if they need to change something up or expand their product line.
While this does not cover every way jewelers find suppliers, it covers a great chunk of how the suppliers get connected to jewelry companies. This makes them a part of the supply chain. Jewelry supply chains contain anywhere from four to six steps. These steps are production, trading/sorting, cutting/polishing, wholesaling & exporting, fabrication into a product, and retail. However many steps an individual company goes through depends on what their products are, what materials are they made of, and how many different materials their products are made of.
In addition to making sure their supply chain functions, jewelers (that aren’t shady) take on a huge amount of responsibilities related to making sure their materials are sourced responsibly. There are a plethora of problems that arise from jewelry making including labor abuses, environmental damage, political conflicts, financing terrorism, and others. Therefore, the jewelers have to monitor and get involved with their supply chains to make sure that everything is done responsibly. Major world organizations and smaller jeweler’s guilds have put out many different guidelines for companies in the Global North to follow for controlling their supply chains. This one is a great example from the Jewelers of America.
All in all, this is a basic overview for folks about jewelry suppliers and how materials are sourced. For more information, I highly recommend researching jewelry manufacturers’ websites and looking up guidelines for responsible sourcing like the one I shared here. And be sure to check out Milk and Rose’s about page to check out how they go about getting their materials.