High Jewellery Processes Today: Between Traceability and Technology

Abstract

The high jewelry industry, and its supply chain, are considered complex systems that have positively affected the global economy as well as potentially harmed the environment and society due to its resources exploitation. As a consequence, consumers are increasingly demanding for sustainable processes that guarantee traceability through the extraction and manufacturing phases. The aim of this paper is to present and evaluate potential solutions for the traceability of high jewelry raw materials. First of all, this paper is intended to analyze how recent initiatives have demonstrated that the mining process is the most challenging one in terms of sustainability. Secondly, the paper focuses on Information technologies, including Blockchain-based technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Non-Fungible Token (NFT) and Near Field Communication (NFC). To address this issue, high jewelry companies and organizations have started integrating these technologies providing superior alternative in terms of verifiability, traceability, and security in comparison to paper-based methods. To this end, this paper offers a detailed overview of current methods of traceability for precious high jewelry raw materials, including gold, diamonds, and colored gemstones. In conclusion, the paper presents a comparison of different methods of traceability available, considering and evaluating opportunities and challenges for existing methods as well as potential new initiatives.