Article: Introducing Impact Gold

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Jan 26, 2021Impact Gold

Introducing Impact Gold

What is Impact Gold?

In our commitment towards a more transparent and traceable supply chain, from 2021 onwards, B.P. de Silva will be crafting all its collections in Impact Gold, a fully traceable fine gold that is artisanally mined in Peru.

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a vital livelihood for over 40 million people in developing countries, particularly for those living in remote areas; communities that may not otherwise have access to alternatives. Whilst it is a fast growing trade, it remains largely unregulated today. There is an absence of governance or regulatory framework, resulting in irresponsible practices such as poor working conditions, and the release of toxins and waste into the environment.

Responsible Gold

Our partners at PX IMPACT ® sought to empower change by creating a sustainable and transparent supply chain that meets world leading standards for responsible practices through guaranteeing:

all of its artisanal miners are government registered.
every step of the gold mining process is diligently controlled and recorded for complete traceability.
no mercury is at all used in the gold mining process (which effectively reduces both carbon footprint and health risks for the miners).
100% of the premium goes back to the artisan miners, to promote social development within the artisan mining communities through the PX Impact® Fund.

Fully traceable, from ore to doré, to fine jewellery

The mined ore (as pictured above) is processed into doré bars - an alloy composed primarily of gold and silver. The doré bars are refined and purified in Switzerland by PX Precinox, a member of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), where the final stages of the gold’s traceable journey continues before it finally reaches our studio.

Another milestone: our first casting in Impact Gold at the B.P. de Silva Studio, 2020.

Meaningful Change

As we move to craft our collections exclusively in Impact Gold, we’re able to continue the conversation towards improving processes, one step at a time. We’ll continue refining, improving, and being more thoughtful.

Impact Gold costs around 5% to 10% more than standard gold, but we made the decision to absorb that cost - it doesn’t mean that you, our client, would have to spend more; it only means that premium we spend on creating your precious keepsakes contributes to several social and education projects for the artisan mining communities in Peru.

If you’d like to find out more about Impact Gold, reach out to us at customercare@bpdesilvajewellers.com and we’d be happy to keep the dialogue going.

We've just launched our very first collection in Impact Gold: our reimagined Wedding Bands. This is just the beginning. Here’s to taking a step together towards the world we want to see.