“How many carats?” While slightly impertinent, it’s a question that most jewellery aficionados could answer easily enough. Should they, however, be challenged with: “Where does it come from?”, they might be harder pressed to provide a definitive answer.

Indeed, it was a query that even Caroline Scheufele, the Co-President of Chopard, clearly struggled with. When asked that very question at the Academy Awards several years back, her inability to respond prompted her to review the company’s sourcing protocols. Recalling the revelation sparked by the impromptu enquiry, she said: “I really had no idea. As with most jewellers, we tended to buy our gold in bulk and never thought to ask where it actually came from. Once you’ve been made aware of the related issues, however, it’s something you just can’t turn your back on.”

Indeed, the issues in question are murky, tangled and, all too often, tainted with the blood of innocents. The gold industry is huge, with its mining operations extending across 60 countries and providing employment to over 15 million people. Unfortunately, it’s also known for being the root cause of a vast number of environmental and humanitarian problems, with the workers toiling in the gold mines – many of them underage – being subject to long hours, low pay and dangerous conditions.

In recent years, though, the more conscious customers and jewellers have become only too aware of the problems wrought by the gold industry. This has led many of the most well-known names in the sector – including Chopard, Gucci and Boucheron – to commit to using only eco-friendly or recycled or responsibly sourced gold. This has seen the emergence of several virtuous certification systems of which two – Fairmined Gold and Fairtrade Gold – are well on the way to being recognised as global standards for responsibly sourced gold. Some brands, like Bulgari, meanwhile, also abide by the codes of the Responsible Jewellery Council.

The high profile accorded to such initiatives is, however, unfortunately at odds with their actual success. Indeed, of the 3,300 tonnes of total gold mined every year, only a paltry few 100kg are actually bona fide responsibly sourced.

Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay