Our Values

We only source materials from suppliers that we know are committed to responsible production. We pay scrupulous attention to our supply chain to ensure that our business partners reflect our respect for people, communities and the environment.

We are members of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) and follow the industry standards it sets. Our founder’s family mine in Central America, from where we first sourced gold nuggets for our first collection, was the first of its kind to be fully certified by the RJC. Today, all our nuggets are sourced from known and trusted artisanal mines in Canada. Our materials are sourced in line with the requirement of our Supplier Code of Conduct, which includes are commitment to uphold a range of environmental and social standards.

We are also proud to be the one of the first members of the Gemstone and Jewellery Community Platform, through which we will be engaging and communicating with our suppliers and enabling them to access training and the resources they need to meet international standards. Our suppliers are subject to our due diligence procedures to ensure that they meet our environmental and social values.

The Emeralds in our collections are sourced from suppliers that meet our values for responsible sourcing and production. MAKAL’s staff have visited the mines in Colombia to verify their performance and understand the route the gemstones take from the mines to our workshops in Europe. All the coloured gemstones in our collections are from suppliers that meet the highest industry standards and are registered on the Gemstone Jewellery platform Community.

The gold used in our jewellery pieces comes from Fairtrade certified sources and directly contributes to improving the working conditions of artisanal miners in South America and Africa.

We use recycled silver verified by our supplier through the SCS Recycled Content Certification system. This supplier makes clear that they verify their silver is recycled through specific certification system.

We have deliberately adopted a made-to-order approach, in other words we don’t manufacture most of our jewellery pieces until they have been chosen by our customers.

This approach drastically reduces stock piling and the potential for waste.
We believe that the made-to-order model is a better alternative to a made-to-stock approach.

Even with high volume pieces we manufacture in very small batches.

All materials in our packaging are eco-friendly. The boxes are made from paper certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council and every detail has been considered with environmental protection in mind.

In a sustainable circular economy, re-use is preferable to recycling, and good design makes that possible. Our packaging is designed to serve as jewellery boxes to keep, rather than wrappers to be thrown away.

It is our responsibility as a jewellery brand to make sure that the art of the goldsmith, the lapidarist and other artisans is handed down from generation to generation.

We are committed, therefore, to work with small businesses wherever possible.
All of our pieces are hand-made in Tuscany in workshops that follow the traditions and techniques of the ancient Florentine goldsmith community, a worldwide guarantee of excellent work.

In 2020, MAKAL invested in mercury reduction efforts targeting the female work force at eight Artisanal Small Scale Mining groups in Kenya through our partnership with Impact Facility for Sustainable Mining Communities.

This charity is dedicated to connecting jewellers with mining communities, to channel grants and social loans for improving rural businesses in Africa and South America. This will in turn help to drive the global supply of responsibly-produced minerals and gemstones.

The programme aims to provide women miners who are processing gold using mercury with equipment that will significantly reduce toxic mercury exposure and emissions during the gold amalgamation process. The grant finances the equipment provided and a three-month training programme teaches the women how to use it.

The programme also educates the miners about the dangers of mercury to people and the environment. This programme is part of MAKAL’s wider effort to improve mine site operations through capacity building and investment in safer, more productive equipment. Learn more about the programme 

In early 2021, we announced a new project to support women in mining in northern Kenya. We welcome Candice, a young mining engineer into our team, working with the The Impact Facility to learn more about the industry and how to mine in a responsible way.

The programme consists of mentoring Candice’s progress as she contributes to a sustainabiity initiative to reduce the impact of mercury exposure in Kenyan small-scale gold mining.

For any complaints or grievances, please refer to the procedure in our Policies and Procedures document.