[Jewelry making - Article 01113] - Re: [Orchid] Suggestions for Lapidary Journal

[richard hart]

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Dawn,

    Sorry if you felt that I was grinding you down. 

    It is interesting to me that the gem trade has these underpaid
    overworked child labor horror stories. 

    How much do you think it would be true if we investigate other
    products produced overseas,, that we all use and have no knowledge
    of? Clothing and shoes have had this reputation. 

    More important, if it is true, what percentage is produced this way?
    Have you been there and seen this? 

    The colored gem business is conducted worldwide by a relatively
    small number of people in my experience from going to trade shows
    over the years. There are only so many mines, so many cutters,
    wholesalers, ect. The U.S. is probably the largest consumer of
    colored gems in the world. 

    When I go to gem shows I see the poorly cut stones in mass
    quantities piled on the tables.  These type of stones are commonly
    thought of as produced by child labor,cheap material poorly cut. As a
    retail store owner, very few vendors I know have incorporated these
    type of stones into jewelry, silver or gold. 

    Most gems are produced by very sophisticated people, with integrity,
    doing business in a highly competitive market. 

    The people in a country that has the moral authority to condemn
    child labor probably consumes the most products produced this way. 

    If these children did not work, do you think their family would fare
    better or worse economically? 

    And please, look at who we admire and pay highly in this country. It
    is not the teachers, it is movie stars and sports figures. So what is
    are real priority for our future of our children. What are we doing
    to our children here with video games and proliferation of porn? 

    The last several days events will show us Americans as stepping up
    to the plate with humanitarian efforts to help with the tsunami
    disaster. 

    There also is the reality that we as a nation have a Wal-mart
    mentality, lowest price, products produced overseas, send jobs
    overseas, send our money overseas, put small businesses out of
    business. 

    Paying little if any attention to this, we will comment on the
    people who we think pay the least they can for gemcutting overseas,
    and judge them as greedy. 

    Hope your brother comes back safe, but do you really feel safer with
    the results of the war in Iraq? 

Richard in Denver

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