Hello from Bishops Stortford

Hello,

I am based in Bishops Stortford and have worked in the trade for 10 years on and off. I am used to working with silver, 18ct and plat but am looking to try out other metals, particularly iron, if anyone has any info for that,casters etc. that would be very helpful

I would say I use CAD as much as I hand make these days and spend a lot of time drawing and doing gouache renders. I'm particularly interested in the ethics and traceability of stones. It was something of a shock to me that after 4 years out of the trade not much progress has been made in the traceability of stones or any supply chain accountability. In a business whose lifeblood is small retailers and designer makers I feel its very much every bodies responsibility to sort this out, its not good enough to pass the buck to those further up the chain. WE must put pressure on those people to make the change, we can all make a difference and contribution if we want to.

I have been abroad to buy gemstones and am happy to give to advice to anyone looking to visit countries, particularly Africa, whose looking to visit mines and import/export stones legally.