Dorothée Contour masters his subject. In his bright shop, erected in the heart of rue d’Alger, in the 1er district, the founder of the house JEM (for Jewelery Ethically Minded) demonstrates that responsibility is not a fad. A family workshop, on a human scale, located in the Vosges, chisels the sculptural jewels imagined for the house by a myriad of designer artists, such as India Mahdavi, Ha-Yeon Lee or Pauline Deltour. The sleek design of the displays highlights creations with architectural lines and harmonious curves, often innovative and always full of meaning.
A poetry of geometry brought to its height by the Étreintes collection: enigmatic and indeterminate curves which, when fitted, reveal the jewel. All creations are forged in ethical gold labeled Fairmined, a certification attesting to the production of the famous metal by autonomous, responsible, artisanal and small-scale mines.
Labeled gold…
“My meeting in 2008 with eco-responsible mining communities in Colombia was decisive in the founding of JEM, explains Dorothée Contour. Certification did not yet exist at the time – it will be necessary to wait until 2014 – but the desire to advance the sector from a social and environmental point of view and in terms of traceability was already manifesting itself in a very concrete way. These initiatives came from the field, from the miners themselves, and they were then supported by the NGO Alliance for Responsible Mining. It is this incredible work of developing standards aimed at reducing the anarchic and dangerous exploitation of artisanal mines – exploitation of children, use of mercury – that I wanted to support. »
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A philosophy well understood by an increasingly large clientele. “Gold is a really special metal, because it also serves as money. This means that there will always be demand: as soon as a deposit is discovered, it is exploited. We might as well make sure to favor sectors that implement good extraction practices, from the point of view of both the health of the miners and their remuneration. This is what the Fairmined label allows. Recycled gold is something else. It is gold that has already been used and has been remelted. From my point of view, its use does not promote the implementation of good practices in the field,” adds Dorothée Contour.
… and sustainable pearl farming
Recently, the entrepreneur decided to broaden her thinking by integrating pearl and mother-of-pearl into her creative proposals following a meeting with Justin Hunter, a marine biologist, born to an American father and a Fijian mother. He has set up a pearl farm off the Fiji Islands, in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, which plays a pioneering role in sustainable pearl farming. “It is once again a story of encounter. Justin has a visionary approach which consists of promoting the protection of marine ecosystems weakened by dynamite fishing, pollution or the intensive exploitation of corals while developing a fair trade network, in partnership with the city of SavuSavu, which allows to have maximum benefits for Fijian communities. »
Each JEM jewel adorned with pearls or mother-of-pearl is thus accompanied by a certificate of adoption of a coral cared for and transplanted by the Coral Guardian association as part of a program to restore the Hatamin reef in Indonesia. Concrete and pragmatic actions served by jewelry that believes in the benefits of the virtuous circle.
JEM House, 10, rue d’Alger, Paris 1erwww.jem-paris.com