Sustainability
From gemstones to gold and the art of handcrafting, every piece of Pragnell jewellery is created in a sustainable, fair and transparent way
Over and above the beauty of our diamonds, we want to know that they have been sourced without causing harm. Through close relationships with our suppliers and careful monitoring of the supply chain, we ensure that every diamond we have ever dealt with, and will ever deal with, is 100% conflict-free.
Every diamond we buy adheres to the Kimberley Process, an international monitoring scheme that was set up to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the market. Every diamond’s journey is tracked, so you can be confident that your diamond is natural, untreated and conflict-free. .
We have particularly strong relationships with diamond suppliers in Botswana, the world’s second-largest producer of rough diamonds. Since diamonds were discovered there in 1967, the country’s government has worked hard to ensure that the stones are mined ethically, and that the profits from the industry benefit the entire population. .
When you buy a certified Botswanan diamond, you can be confident that every person who played a role in that stone’s journey from the mine to jewel has been treated and paid fairly. .
Diamonds now account for 70% of Botswana’s exports. The industry has led to an era of unprecedented prosperity, transforming the country’s economy and changing the fortune of its people forever. .
Profits from the diamond trade have been used to grant free education for children across the country, to provide hospitals and healthcare, and to build successful apprenticeship programmes for young people. .
We are proud to work with Botswanan diamonds. In January 2020 we partnered with Sentebale, the charity co-founded by Prince Harry to help transform the lives of young people living with HIV in Botswana and neighbouring Lesotho. .
We created a one-of-a-kind Kingdom ring featuring a 2.07-carat certified Botswanan diamond. The ring was auctioned at a charity gala in January 2020, with all proceeds donated to Sentebale. We also donate 5% of the proceeds from sales of the entire Kingdom collection to the charity.
Natural vs Synthetic Diamonds
Natural diamonds are wonders of nature; by working with responsible mining companies, we seek to preserve the environment for future generations.
Rough diamonds are formed deep within the earth’s crust: extracting these wonders of nature relies on sophisticated mining techniques. Responsible mining companies take great measures to preserve and protect the environments in which they work: from offsetting carbon emissions, to returning exhausted mines to their original habitats. We work with mines and suppliers who share our long-term commitment to the environment and to the economies and communities of the countries in which they operate.
Synthetic diamonds, in contrast, are created in laboratories using immense quantities of heat and power. These laboratories also require millions of litres of water in order to cool their reactors. A study commissioned by the Diamond Producers Association discovered that laboratory-grown diamonds accounted for three times as many carbon emissions as responsibly mined natural diamonds.
Synthetic diamond producers have received warnings from the US Federal Trade Commission regarding ‘unsubstantiated’ claims about the environmental benefits of their stones. Questions have also been raised about the working conditions inside some synthetic diamond factories.
We are confident that working with certified and traced natural diamonds, from mines that operate in a sustainable way, is the responsible decision.
Recycled Gold
Wherever possible, we work with gold that has been carefully and responsibly recycled, giving precious new life to salvaged metal.
As part of our best practice, sustainable sourcing standards, we work wherever possible with recycled gold and platinum. Recycling precious metals involves melting down existing pieces along with scraps from the workshop and gold from electronic waste, refining it to remove any impurities and re-processing it into pure, 24-karat gold bullion.
Recycled gold is physically and chemically identical to newly mined gold: just as precious, strong, long-lasting and beautiful.
Working with recycled gold minimises the amount of new mining that has to occur. We collect and recycle all gold particles and excess precious metal from our workshops, limiting waste and contributing to the salvaged gold supply chain.
Our pieces are handmade in our British workshops by an in-house team of specialist craftspeople whose safety and wellbeing is our number one priority. We choose not to outsource production of our jewellery, so that we have control over not only the quality and finish of our pieces, but also over the working conditions, health and happiness of the individuals who craft them.
As a family-run business, we ensure that every Pragnell employee is treated well, paid fairly and receives constant professional and personal development.
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