RECIPROCITY

New York, New York, November 4, 2022 – For the first time ever, ten international jewelry designers living in New York and Peru have collaborated with an association of artisanal miners, AMATAF, who are leading a wave of mercury-free gold mining and reforestation practice in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, supported by non-profit organization Pure Earth. 

The Reciprocity Exhibition took place from Wednesday, November 16 through Friday, November 18th, from 12-6:30pm at the Consulate of Peru in New York.  A Peru Pisco Reception offering the signature cocktail of Peru, was held on Thursday, November 17, from 4:30-7:30pm. The reception began with a panel discussion featuring Peruvian jeweler and Casa Collab Founder, Andrea José, New York-based responsible jewelry designer, Dana Bronfman, and a Pure Earth representative. 

The event allowed guests to be immersed in the joy of fine jewelry created with gold sourced from miners whose names they know, and that they know exactly where it came from, and that the techniques used to extract it were created without mercury or any other toxic substances. They can even know that the miners are reforesting their concessions after closing them. This can offer guests an opportunity to see what is possible in the jewelry industry and a path to a gold supply chain offering unprecedented levels of transparency and traceability, benefitting miners, designers, customers as well as nature.

The designers whose designs were showcased include Dana Bronfman, GBGH Jewelry, Delphine Leymarie, Maria&Maria, Andrea Jose, Matia Lia Baroni, Amulet by D Jewelry, IZA by Silvia D’Avila, Kathryn the Younger, and Candor. 

The jewellery has been created in collaboration with Casa Collab, a B Corp based in Peru led by Peruvian jeweler Andrea Jose, who transformed the gold into castings, sheet, wire, and gold plate for the designers to finish in their studios. 

About Reciprocity

“The idea of reciprocity, in the context of this exhibition, is pivotal to the way that we, as designers, approach our practices. Reciprocity is the basis for partnerships and friendship, the core of truthful connections that make our society alive. The purpose is the mutual benefit of all participants in the collaborative process of jewelry making - from mine to finished product,” says Andrea Jose, Peruvian jeweler who worked with AMATAF to source the gold and create the pieces that eventually moved to each participating jewelry designer’s studio. 

“This is the first edition of this project, presented during the NYC Jewelry Week 2022, with the purpose of showcasing that a solution for the jewelry industry is collaboration and partnership. The benefits of it are multiplied when all the players - miner and jeweller- work together,” continues Jose. 

Reciprocity invites the jewelry industry and customer to consider the environmental and social impact equally in their purchases. We believe that jewelry that is produced in the spirit of reciprocity makes it glisten even brighter.

In addition to the created jewelry being on view, designers were present to explain their inspiration and what it was like collaborating with AMATAF.