Ethical Silver: where can i purchase it? how can i recycle it to produce more jewellery?

Question

I am an environmental scientist doing a collaborative dissertation on silversmithing practices. does anyone know where or who i can contact to obtain ethical silver for the production of jewellery- my work colleague has to make something. alternatively the method for recycling small amounts. thanks

Answer 1

Since silver is an internationally traded commodity, your purchase of ANY silver will support the price of silver that may have been produced unethically (whatever your definition of that is).  The only way to ensure that silver you use was produced ethically (based on your own standards of ethics) would be to find a silver deposit (native metallic or mineral) and extract the metal yourself.

Answer 2

sorry, no Idea

Answer 3

You could buy old coins.  There are some sterling silver pieces that you could buy that are better off being recycled.  There are many people who have their local little precious metal recovery operations almost as a hobby or retirement business, and they would be happy to sell to whoever.  The old silver may have been mined by slaves, but by now all of those people are dead.  You would be enough removed by now.

Answer 4

There is nothing very unethical about silver metal as a raw material. It is possible that some jewellery houses exploit artisans. It is best to buy direct from small artisans to ensure that thry get their due. These are generally trdition bound and make traditional designs.

It is the big houses that can hire designers and go for contemporary pieces. There is a price for it.

http://www.asia.si.edu/visitor/bibindia....

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/canv...

http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/ga...

Answer 5

I take it you mean silver to be recycled? Not silver that has been produced 'ethically' ie good working conditions in 3rd world countries, fair share of profits etc. (If the latter then put 'ethical silver' into Google. A few companies are advertising this.)

I've done a Google for you on 'recycled silver'

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=r...

Silver can be recovered from a variety of sources, including photographic waste, electrical and electronics waste as well as old jewellery.

I guess to recycle old jewellery you could either clean/repair and sell as antique/pre-used (or turn into artworks) or smelt it down to make 'new' silver ingots. You can buy small scales furnaces for this purpose. (Not sure of the carbon footprint though.)

http://www.wenesco.com/hitempfurn.htm?gc...

I imagine a small scale metalworks could also do this for you Also turn re-smelted ingots back into sheets and wire for jewellery making.

I guess you have to investigate the whole silver industry; how its produced, what its used in, how it can be recovered, how it can be reused and the cost economics of it. Some may not be feasible on a small scale. (Can the silver from silver plate be recovered for example?)

Good luck.