Melinda Nugent

Melinda, a  qualified gemmologist, is the co-founder and driving force behind Ethical Jewellery Australia (EJA) she is also the creator of The Promised Ring.

It all began when Melinda learned of Oxfam’s ‘no dirty gold’ campaign; she signed the ‘no dirty gold’ pledge in early 2007.

Her resolve to provide an environmentally and most importantly, socially responsible alternative strengthened even further when, through her Gemmology studies, she began to realise that the cost of mining and processing gemstones can be very high on workers and environment.

At this time Melinda was a co-owner of a retail and manufacturing jewellery business in Brisbane.

Melinda made the decision to sell her interest in the retail jewellery shop and, with her partner, Benn Harvey-Walker, launched Ethical Jewellery Australia and The Promised Ring. The result is a hands on business, based on an entirely different model – primarily internet based, but customer focused and very personal.

Melinda manages all the Gemstone, Diamond and design related tasks in the business.  Melinda constantly liaises with the jewellers and customers throughout the design and manufacturing process. Top quality jewellery and customer satisfaction is her highest priority.

Melinda is a member of GAA (Gemmological Association of Australia) and Fair Jewelry Action

Benn Harvey-Walker

Benn is the co-founder of Ethical Jewellery Australia. He spent 17 years as a marketing and management consultant before moving into building construction five years ago. Things have come (almost) full circle and he has now returned in a part time capacity to look after the marketing and business development side of things. Benn will also be writing blog articles, creating the new project pages and overseeing web development. He can also be persuaded to make coffee from time to time and is extremely good at Bananagrams.

Ferdinand Woolley

We are very fortunate to have Ferdinand Woolley – a very talented, creative and meticulous jeweller manufacturing our beautiful rings. Originally from NSW and now based in Brisbane, Ferdinand has over 18 years industry experience. He somehow manages to turn some talk, lots of hand gestures and a few (bad) scribbles (and usually an essay) into the perfect ring. Ferdinand is also a skilled
gem and diamond setter and is experienced in working with Platinum and Palladium. We could not do what we do without him and he is treasured by us and all who wear his rings. It would be wonderful  to be able to clone him to meet demand, but for the moment we appreciate that our lovely customers are very patient.

Other suppliers

Engravers – John Hammond engraving

Pre made rings – Hoover and Strong (from their eco friendly ‘Harmony’ range)

Valuer – Brisbane Valuation Services

Gem Cutter – Robert Kelly

Bookkeeper/lifesaver – Marshall Bookkeeping

Critters

As we all know, “the internet is made of cats” – so here are ours:

Brothers Atticus and Boo were adopted from the Paddington Cat Clinic in December 2010. They quickly put Phoebe the dog in her place. They are now enormous and extremely fluffy, but this photo is too cute to change.