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Page Neal, co-founder of the Philadelphia-based jewelry brand, Bario Neal, shares her insight about lab-grown diamonds, greenwashing, and what she’s learned crafting ethical gold rings for more than a decade.
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Philadelphia has a rich history of artisans crafting jewelry since the 1800s. Newish to Philadelphia’s jewelry scene is Bario Neal, an ethical jewelry brand that made Philadelphia (and later a second store in New York) its home in 2008. The brand, known for its sculptural designs like the cluster rings, also has a stellar reputation for ethical sourcing. Each stone is fully traceable. The founders are board members of Ethical Metalsmiths. Dozens of pages on the website are dedicated to information about human rights for miners, carbon footprints, and recycled metals. From the blog to the studio space, it’s obvious that a lot of time and thought has gone into crafting jewelry in a sustainable way and sharing that with the customer.
It’s this desire to share that makes Bario Neal a rare gem in Philadelphia’s artisan jewelry scene. It’s a jewelry brand dedicated to connecting with its community. Whether it’s highlighting the women artisans who etch personalized engravings into gold rings at their in-house studios or its partnership with the Tanzania Women Miners Association (TAWOMA), the brand uplifts the women behind their rings in a way that is rarely seen elsewhere in the industry.
Page Neal, the co-founder of Bario Neal, took me behind the scenes to share her insight into the jewelry industry over the last sixteen years.
Which do you think is better, lab-grown or mined diamonds?
I don’t think it’s so black or white. We work with a U . U.S.-based company to get all of our lab-grown diamonds that have carbon-neutral offset programs. And we have a sustainably-certified partner to offer traceable mined diamonds.
Traditional diamonds have a high environmental footprint and they’re often produced overseas without much regulation. And certainly, I understand the desire to want to take out all potential human rights violations. But at the same time, diamond mining and cutting are economies that are important to a lot of people all over the world. That’s why we work with both.
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Do you use 100% recycled gold in Bario Neal pieces?
We use 100% recycled metals and we have since the foundation of our company. We work closely with an eco-friendly manufacturer to cast all of our metals whether that’s either recycled or fair mine gold.
When we established Bario Neal in 2008 it was a mission-based organization to make lasting objects of value that would have a positive impact on the environment. But, at the time there were very little resources available to jewelers on how to work with ethically sourced materials or recycled gold. And fair mined had only been in existence since 2007. Ethically tracing gemstones and diamonds was much harder to find too.
I think a lot of the work that we did at the beginning, has helped to reset the pathway for other jewelers, which is something we’re proud of and have been happy to support others.
Since 2008, what are some of the biggest changes you’ve noticed in the jewelry industry?
I think there’s a level of greenwashing that has been very strong within the industry and the industry has just sort of shifted over the past 5 to 6 years overall. There are a lot of companies that are mass producing large quantities, oftentimes overseas. And you wonder, is that a sustainable choice? Who are these companies partnering with for their recycled metals? Are the lab-grown diamonds they’re using sustainably certified? Because, I know how hard and limiting that can be, I can say the answer is probably ‘no’.
So, it’s been both rewarding and disappointing this past year because more and more consumers are interested in ensuring they have ethical materials. But I think the commodification of it and the sort of greenwashing has been sad to see.
What recommendations do you have for shopping for sustainable jewelry?
Ask for certifications. How do I know your metal is 100% recycled? What proof do you have of that? Same with their gemstones. Understanding where that gemstone was mined and what kind of certification is provided that backs up the details of the mining, is important to ensure that you’re not supporting anything that was created in an unethical and unsustainable way.
If you’re going for a lab-grown diamond, ask if there are carbon-neutral offset programs. Ask if the company publishes any of its reporting. On our website, you’ll find our biannual sustainability report where we publish all of our processes, findings, and goals for the next year.
What certifications does Bario Neal have?
If you go to our website, you can see all of our certifications and sustainability reports. We walk our consumers through the process. For instance, sharing how we vet all of our gemstone and metal manufacturers and suppliers. You can see what our protocols are and what one would have to do to meet our standards. We won’t introduce a gemstone unless we can have a really good source that we feel confident about. It does make it a little less competitive when we’re limited by materials, but it’s important to us.
In terms of our certifications, a lot of them belong to third parties. Our refiner has a certification for recycled metals. Our lab-grown diamonds come from a certified lab. We do have raw diamonds from Australia and Canada, so we can provide an origin point. Colored gemstones don’t have a lot of certifications, but you can read through the protocols we take for us to be able to use them.
How has your business changed and evolved over the years?
This year, we’re working to get a carbon neutrality certification for the business. We’re also working to integrate a buyback program onto our website.
We developed our sustainability report and we just published the last one in 2023. We worked with a consultant, who’s phenomenal, to help us redo our vetting structure for suppliers. We’re getting materials from all over the world and the rules for metals are different than those for gemstones or diamonds. So our work with this consultant helped us to develop our own vetting system to ensure that we have consistency with every supplier and manufacturer. That’s one really big initiative I’m proud of.
We’ve also just built out our studio more so we can take on more in-house work. That’s been an investment we’ve made both in skill training and equipment purchasing over the past 10 years.
We recently redesigned all of our packaging, too. It was sustainable before, but we elevated it so it is something customers will never want to throw out. We have a new magnetic box that can be used just like a jewelry box and new wooden and porcelain boxes we’re excited about. For that project, we partnered with a Pennsylvania packaging company focused on sustainable design.
Why did you choose to be based in Philadelphia?
Philadelphia, in particular, is like the home of so many small jewelry businesses because of Jewelers Row. And that’s one of the reasons why we landed in Philadelphia. The manufacturing resources are pretty remarkable here and so many small businesses have been utilizing all these resources.
I believe that supporting our local economies is one of the most important things we can do to be sustainable. There are pretty much makers in every major city. If you can support a small business versus a larger corporation, by all means, do it. Philadelphia, in particular, is a rich jewelry city.
How are you sustainable in your everyday life?
Food is really important to me. I try to eat locally and within the season. I shop at farmers’ markets and cook a lot.
I think my biggest power as an individual is my consumption habits. I feel very strongly about supporting small businesses. I don’t care if it costs a little more money to support small businesses and all of my choices. It’s how I make a living and I feel like I have to put that back out into the world and support people who are choosing to be sustainable even though it’s harder. I teach my kids that, too. We really do try to shop in our neighborhood for everything.
Travel is also important to me. I know the eco-footprint of traveling is high, so I try to spend time in a new place in a way that is sustainable. I show that to my children as well- there’s a different way to travel. We’re actually going this summer to Africa for a good friend’s wedding. We’ll visit some mining sites to do an audit of where we get some of our stones, which will be really cool. My kids are excited to be on a tour too and for me to show them that this is actually where we get the materials and one of the women’s mining collectives in Tanzania we work with.
