Bi holding a 50-gram ingot — the birth of a new supply chain.
Reflective Jewelry Imports First Market Viable, Artisanal, Conflict-Free Clean Gold from the Congo
< To download a pdf version of this press release, click here. >
Santa Fe, NM Sept 24, 2024: Reflective Jewelry announces the fabrication of the first wedding rings made from market viable, ethically sourced, and mercury free artisanal gold from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We are proud to be the first jewelers to create wedding rings from this Congo social justice gold,” said Kyle Abraham Bi, owner and CEO of Reflective Jewelry. “This project represents a long-awaited breakthrough with the potential to create meaningful change in our industry.”
The first-ever pair of wedding bands created from this traceable Congolese gold, handmade by Reflective Jewelry in 24K.
Since 2020, Reflective Jewelry, a pioneering North American ethical jewelry company, worked as a consultant and liaison between North American jewelers and Society Artisanal, through the 12-million dollar USAID-funded program Zahabu Safi (“Clean Gold.”)
Bi, a member of the Black in Jewelry Coalition and the recipient of the first BIJC x GIA Distance Education Scholarship, has been involved with ethical gold issues since 2017, during his student days at Brown University. In the fall of 2021 he travelled to the Congo with the support of Global Communities, visiting several remote small-scale mining sites in conflict areas, where he represented North American jewelers to Congolese miners and government officials. He consulted extensively with project organizers, acting as a liaison with and advisor to the board of Ethical Metalsmiths and the broader jewelry trade. He published a feature article, Flexibilité: Clean Gold from the Heart of Darkness?, in Jewellery Business magazine, documenting his insights.
“What’s particularly exemplary about Society Artisanal is that their project allows miners to reap the benefit of their minerals, is entirely scalable, mercury-free, and traceable to source through blockchain technology,” said Bi.
A photo taken by Bi during his 2021 visit to several Congolese small-scale gold mines.
Reflective Jewelry, the only certified Fairtrade Gold jeweler in the entire USA, shares a common goal with Society Artisanal: sustainable economic opportunities for local communities and responsible mining practices. Society Artisanal continues to promote responsible sourcing in the region and looks forward to expanding this initiative and building on this success to bring positive changes to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Reflective Jewelry pioneered Fairtrade Gold, first importing in 2011 and becoming the first and only certified Fairtrade Gold jeweler in the US in 2015. According to Bi, the movement, which has benefitted fewer than ten thousand small-scale miners out of approximately twenty million, has been bogged down by supply chain issues, costing, scalability, and heavy markups by refiners acting as middle agents to the trade.
“We hope to see this project connect those purchasing a wedding ring with small-scale gold miners in the Congo,” added Bi. “This type of relationship grounds a new kind of supply chain — a break from the historical exploitation which has turned many resources in the mineral-rich Congo into a curse.
The same 50-gram ingot held by Bi at the top of this page.
Kyle Abraham Bi, Owner and CEO of Reflective Jewelry, was an inaugural recipient of the Black in Jewelry Coalition x GIA Distance Education Scholarship — as well as a signatory of 2020’s BIPOC Open Letter to the jewelry industry. He has functioned as a representative for North American jewelers to the USAID Zahabu Safi (Clean Gold) Project, appeared as a featured speaker at the Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference, and is a regular feature writer for Jewellery Business Magazine. He serves on both Ethical Metalsmiths’ Advisory Council and Action Coalition, and is an Editor and Author for their blog The Source. Kyle holds a BA from Brown University in Contemplative Studies, and is a Graduate Gemologist. He can be reached at kyle (at) reflectivejewelry.com.