The concept of ethical jewellery today includes certified Fair mined gold as well as conflict-free and ethically mined diamonds; consumption of such products is soaring in tandem with evolving consumer interest in ethical labour practices and sustainability. While previous studies investigate ethical jewellery consumption, the literature is silent on such consumption by Italian consumers. We aim to close this gap, through a case history of Italy's first and currently most popular ethical jewellery store, Gioielleria (Jewellery) Belloni in Milan. Through ethnographic interviews with the owner and a representative sample of his clientele, we illuminate an ethical jeweller's practices and values, contextualized in the socio-cultural traditions unique to Italy. We further examine how Italian ethical consumers interpret Canadian ethical diamonds and certified Fair mined gold during their purchasing experiences, vis-à-vis their perceptions of the Made in Italy brand. We employ Ethnopragmatic Theory (Duranti 2011) and the concept of Territorialisation (De Martino 2008) in our conceptual framework.

is a Marie Curie Global Fellow (Map value transformations in a global interconnection. How sensory experiences and cultural interpretations shape concepts of "ethical diamond" and "mining work ethic", financed by the European Union's Horizon 2020 H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 under Grant Agreement No. 837190

This study aims to highlight the use of the peculiar interconnection between two different production sectors, specifically the diamond and the food sectors, in order to show the cultural interpretations given to the certification of diamonds presented by consumers. These latter, while buying Canadian diamonds, have little knowledge of the real working conditions of miners in mines in Linda Armano is an anthropologist and, currently, a Marie Curie Fellow þ 1 at the Department of Management, at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. Her current investigations are focused on ethical and sustainable issues in precious metals and diamond mining in Canada. Her research interests are mainly in the area of consumer behavior and branding, specifically on luxury brands, consumer behavior,