Many consumers trust the retailers and brands they buy their jewelry from to adhere to basic standards of ethical production namely not using toxic chemicals for the safety of the customers wearing the jewelry and following basic safety regulations for the workers who make their products everyday. Sadly, this is not always the case. We are all aware of the consequences of worker safety with the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1,100 workers. Within the jewelry industry, studies in recent months by non-profit groups in the United States have found nickel, lead and cancer-causing toxins and chemicals in jewelry sold in large retailers across America.
I have been fortunate to grow up around my family’s company Boma jewelry and see our process and the care that goes into craftsmanship. Jewelry making is a time-honored skill that is developed slowly over a long period of time. Quality comes when workers are supported, provided training and development and have security to focus on developing their skills and techniques.
While Boma is a nearly 40-year-old business, we have not shared our story directly with customers until now. As conscious customers begin to ask more and more questions we are extremely proud to talk about our process and the people who make our jewelry. For us it’s not a reaction to a trend in ethical fashion but rather a lifelong dedication to jewelry making that extends over generations as well as a vision for building and supporting a sustainably-minded business for the long term.
Today I am blessed to steer Boma jewelry’s future into an ever-changing market. Our company has sold over 35 million pieces of jewelry to date and counting and we’ve built our company on the ethos of quality, service and design yet it’s a very different landscape from how the industry was 40 years ago. Our company uniquely exists while many of our competitors from the same era have gone out of business simply because we decided to take our manufacturing in-house over 33 years ago. We built our own factory and we own, manage and operate how our jewelry is made and we take care of our workers.
At Boma, we’ve created careers for life. We have very little turnover due to the importance of creating a supportive environment and culture of quality that values its workers. Our worker’s salaries increase each year, we provide above required wages and benefits and strive to be a model company that our workers are proud to be a part of. Today many of our workers have been with us for 15, 20+ years and some with perfect attendance!
Recently we’ve introduced wellness programs for our workers. Because working with delicate, small objects can be physically tiring we have activities like aerobics, yoga and meditation courses provided for our staff. During morning breaks and lunch time, many of our staff play chess, go for walks and share fruits from their gardens with friends.
I have worked side by side with our workers and learned what brings happiness to their lives. They proudly show me pictures of their kids and their home which they renovated with the help of our company’s credit union which was created over 15 years ago when many of our employees used to have problems with loan sharks. Programs like this create a community of support and options for our employees. For our employees to know that they have resources available to them makes them feel more secure, supported and able to focus on the quality of their work and to do it with joy.
Not all of our customers know that Boma jewelry is handmade and that each piece of jewelry crosses over 21 pairs of hands from its start to finish. I believe our conscious customer wants to know about the people who make their jewelry. There is a great power in that in being able to connect the maker to the customer in a storytelling process so that our customer sees the value of handmade things and cherishes the item even more had they not been aware of the process.
Because the current jewelry market does not do enough to be transparent about how jewelry is made and what is in your jewelry, Boma aims to communicate, share and be a voice for education and awareness in jewelry for all customers. Building from our foundation of quality craftsmanship, we want to be the industry’s example of ethical, sustainable and transparent jewelry making. We believe there is a conscious customer who shares our vision.
