JEWELLER · CAMPAIGNER · AUTHOR
Gold should be Fairtrade.
A ridiculed fantasy in 2000. The backbone of every ethical jeweller’s claim today. Thirty years of making trouble - from Congolese gold pits to the Queen’s honours list.
PEACE BUILT ON GOLD
FAIRTRADE GOLD
MINE TO MARKET
MERCURY FREE
TRACEABLE
ARTISANAL & SMALL SCALE
PEACE BUILT ON GOLD FAIRTRADE GOLD MINE TO MARKET MERCURY FREE TRACEABLE ARTISANAL & SMALL SCALE
THE ARGUMENT
“We stand on the shoulders of the voiceless giants who anoint our rubies, sapphires, gold, silver and diamonds with the sweat born from their exploitation. As a jeweller I cannot pretend this does not exist.”
GREG VALERIO MBE
Three fronts, one argument.
WHAT I DO
Campaign
Changing the rules of the trade
Thirty years of pressure on refiners,brands,assay offices and governments - until Frairtrade gold stopped being a fantasy and became a standard.
Build
PeaceGold in eastern Congo
Working with ex-militia in Ituri Province to legalise their mining , go mercury free, and build an export platform they own.
Craft
Jewellery with a clean conscience
Valerio Jewellery - fine pieces in Fairtrade gold and traceable stones. Grandeur for the rich need not mean grit for the poor.
MY ETHICAL COMMITMENT
The mission, the method, the results.
Decades of advocacy reduced to one stubborn idea: the people who dig the gold should share in the beauty and the bounty it becomes.
I have consistently challenged the industry's giants and power brokers — with passion and fire — to pursue human rights and environmental justice throughout the jewellery value chain.
1996
CRED JEWELLERY FOUNDED
2011
FAIRTRADE GOLD LAUNCHES IN BRITAIN
2004
FIRST ETHICAL JEWEJJERY WEBSITE IN THE UK
2026
TRACEABLE CONGOLESE GOLD UNDER CONTRACT
VOICES
What the trade says.
“Few can claim to have precipitated fundamental change in the jewellery business.”
GAETANO CAVALIERI - PRESIDENT
WORLD JEWELLERY CONFEDERATION
“His truth has a string, but he also has an unflinching, contagious hope.”
SHANE CLAIBORNE - ACTIVIST AND AUTHOR
“Greg is a true hero.”
KATHERINE HAMNETT CBE - FASHION DESIGNER AND CAMPAIGNER
“One man who wouldn't take no for an answer.”
HARRIET LAMB CBE - FORMER CEO, FAIRTRADE INTERNATIONAL
THE BOOK
Making Trouble
A David and Goliath story of a jeweller who couldn't keep his mouth shut — about the oppression of the workers, and the rape of the land.
Small-scale mining is the second biggest employer on earth. Told the trade would never change, Greg set out to prove it wrong. Fairly traded gold is now available in the UK. The battle for diamonds and coloured gemstones continues.
STAY IN IT