Does it make sense to want to create luxury jewellery by acting ethically in an age of hyper-consumption?
MY POLICY.
For me, SUSTAINABILITY is not an objective. SUSTAINABILITY is the only way of doing things that will last over time.
My Sustainability Policy is based upon the following thoughts.
I am aware of the INTERCONNECTEDNESS IN NATURE. Life forms interpenetrate each other. Structurally, we find everything hooked up to everything else in the universe. I perceive that I am united, that I belong to all things and to the beginning of all things.
I perceive a MYSTICAL AWARENESS, an intimate understanding of creation through which an absolute love for it arises.
We are a small part of a large, essential formulation that is incomprehensible to humans.
It is a paradox: <all this makes no sense; nevertheless, I look at it with rapt attention>.
Our morality must ensure that everyone acts according to his conscience for the universal good of all.
This is how KANT developed these reflections in "The Critique of Practical Reason",
"Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and reverence (...):
the starry heavens above me and
the moral law within me.”
The starry sky - establishes man's position in the world and his connection to the other infinite worlds and the unlimited times. This gives rise to a feeling of smallness and insignificance.
The moral law within - the acknowledgement that we are not a mere animal life. We are a life independent of all sentient world, both matter and animality. Thanks to the moral sphere, man is truly free.
THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE manifests itself in ETHICS (and in AESTHETICS, I am convinced of the essential importance of the way of beauty):.
"With the ethic of respect for life we enter into a spiritual relationship with the universe." Schweitzer.
In the words of Javier Gomá:
"It is necessary to choose well, with elegance in the use of freedom so as not to harm anyone.
(...) to be free is important, but we must also be elegant.
(...) elegance because it comes from elect, and it is like a compendium of good ethics.
(...) We will all die, but there is still time to improve and give an image of our life that is worthwhile, meaningful and purposeful.”
SLOW and INHERITABLE.
We are consumers. The dominant culture is consumerism.
Consumerism doesn't just make us consume.
More subtly, through advertising that constantly captures minds, it makes each of us believe that we are the centre of the world, considering ourselves as a divinity to which there is no sacrifice that should not be consecrated.
This mercantile and selfish philosophy of life takes away territory from ethics and moral sentiment in our world.
It takes away territory from plants, animals and other beings. No matter how much the water and air are poisoned.
And yet, despite all this destruction, we still feel as empty and unsatisfied as we did at the beginning.
I believe that there are two concepts that oppose the compulsive consumerism of our time and that represent true luxury:
slowness and timelessness.
My proposal is,
a) I create EXCLUSIVE, ORIGINAL and UNIQUE handmade pieces using the ancient techniques of goldsmithing. I do not accumulate stock. There is only one unit for each piece.
b) I use luxury raw materials that in themselves speak of ETERNITY. The raw materials I work with are SUSTAINABLE. ETHICAL AND RECYCLABLE.
c) Jewellery retains its emotional value long after the excitement of novelty has worn off.
I aspire to create TIMELESS PIECES whose value increases over time. Not only for the intrinsic value of the materials, but also for the EMOTIONAL CHARGE that they retain and make them desirable and worthy of being cared for. And they are passed on, from grandmothers to mothers and daughters, from aunts to nieces. They are not discarded, they are given as gifts.
It's not about having a lot of jewellery, it's about CARING carefully for the jewellery you have. Use your imagination and multiply the function and placement of the jewellery to give the illusion of having more.
SOUL.
I work alone in my own workshop.
On occasions, I benefit from the invaluable collaboration of expert craftsmen from Bilbao. Our relationship is mutually beneficial: we all learn, we all contribute ideas, we all win. The basis of our relationship is esteem, respect, honesty, clarity and dignity.
What is the soul of a company?
Mr. Mikel Etxebarria Dobaran wrote it in his article, "Empresas S.A. (Sin Alma)". An extract.
THE SOUL IS THE BRAND. It is the engine of existence. Although it gives the impression of being immaterial, if it is not present, commercial life or even personal life is meaningless.
THE SOUL IS AUTHENTICITY. It is the roots. It is differentiation. The soul is humility. It is ethical, virtuous behaviour. A company has a soul when it respects all its stakeholders, its shareholders and employees, its customers and suppliers, financial institutions and public administrations, society and the planet in which we live. (...)
A company has a soul when (...) is committed to business continuity over time. (...) complies with good governance regulations, pays its taxes, pays its suppliers and repays its debts (...) meets its customers on time and on budget and at a fair price.
What is it to have NO soul?
to dismiss, even if it is legal (...).
to delegate the company to algorithms and be guided by technical criteria alone.
to fire a pregnant woman (...)
not to fulfill the contractual commitments to the client.
to put obstacles in the way of flexibility, work-life balance and respect for rest.
mobbing.
to have profitability as the sole objective, regardless of how it is achieved.
to pollut the planet by externalising costs.
to relocate production to pay poverty wages.
to delude oneself into thinking that robots will serve customers better than people.
to domicile in tax havens to avoid the tax authorities.
(…)
We must be scrupulous in identifying authenticity and use a particularly sharpened moral compass.
It is difficult for us to trust what we see. But I also believe we should allow ourselves to believe in the goodwill of others, to lean on each other and to do positive things in the service of humanity. To be kind and generous to others.
We should allow ourselves to become wise guardians of our planet no matter how much cheating, corruptibility and ignorance we detect around us.
CONCERNING THE FUTURE.
What do we want to preserve about the present so that the future will turn out as we would like it to?
What do we want to change?
