Who Really Benefits When Jewellery Brands “Support Local Artisans”?

Behind the stories of handmade jewellery and cultural traditions lies a simple question: who really benefits from the work?

You’ve probably seen it on a jewellery brand’s website or social media. The brand talks about working with local artisans in Bali, India, or Morocco. It praises their skills, celebrates their culture, and says that buying its jewellery helps keep traditional crafts alive. Sometimes, this story is even one of the brand’s main selling points. It makes customers feel that they are buying more than just jewellery — they are also supporting local people and their traditions.

It sounds generous. But there is another question we should ask:

When we buy jewellery from international brands, how much of our money actually reaches the artisan who made it?

Skilled hands. Low pay. Expensive jewellery.

International brands may talk about their love for traditional crafts. But there is also a business reason for making jewellery abroad: skilled workers often cost less to hire in these places.

The artisan is the one who uses their skills and time to make the jewellery. But the brand decides how it looks, how it is advertised, where it is sold, and how much it costs. The brand makes a lot of money, even though it is not the one making the jewellery by hand.

Research shows that products can be made in one country while most of the control and profits stay with businesses elsewhere. Jewellery supply chains can also be hard to follow. In its report The Hidden Cost of Jewelry, Human Rights Watch explains that it can be difficult to trace where materials come from and understand the risks workers face along the way.

This creates an imbalance. The person who makes the jewellery has little say in its price, how it is sold, or how much money they receive from the sale.

When artisans have little money to invest, few ways to reach buyers, and little power to negotiate, they may have to accept the pay they are offered. Their skills make the product valuable, but other people may have more control over the money it earns.

So how much do the people making this jewellery actually earn? 

The exact figures are hard to know because many workshops are informal, workers have no formal contracts, and there is little data on jewellery workers' pay. But the examples we do have raise important questions.

Bali: $2–3 a day for jewellery that sells for hundreds

Bali is known for its silver and gemstone jewellery. Some reports put workshop workers' pay at just $2–3 per day, while a designer necklace can sell for $200–500 in another country. 

However, reliable studies showing how typical these wages are across Bali's jewellery industry are difficult to find, so the daily wage should be treated as an estimate, not a proven average.

Many small workshops rely on larger exporters, traders, or international businesses to reach customers abroad. This can make it difficult for artisans to negotiate prices or sell directly to the people who ultimately buy their work.

India: millions of artisans, billions in exports

India has a huge craft industry, with around 7 million handicraft artisans. Women make up 56% of these workers. India also exports around $42 billion worth of gems and jewellery each year.

But much of this trade is run by larger businesses. Many artisans work in small workshops and get paid for each item they make. This means they can earn very little, even when their work requires years of skill.

Studies of similar craft industries, such as carpets and textiles, have found that artisans may receive less than 10% of the final selling price, while middlemen and retailers take around 90%. These figures are not specific to jewellery, but they show how little of the final price can reach the person who makes a product.

Morocco: $1–2 for earrings sold for $50

In Morocco, traditional silver jewellery and detailed metalwork are sold to customers around the world. Yet many artisans depend on traders or other businesses to sell their work.

Interviews with cooperatives suggest that an artisan might earn just $1–2 for a pair of earrings that sells for $50 abroad. There is no detailed study confirming this as a typical rate, so it should be treated as an example rather than an industry-wide average. Still, it raises a simple question: how much of that $50 actually reaches the person who made the earrings?

A job is not the same as a better future

Many artisans work from home or in small family workshops. They may have no formal contract, reliable social security, or guaranteed amount of work. Some are paid only for each piece they finish, so they earn less when orders are slow.

Women often do much of the detailed handwork but may have little say over prices or sales. In some cases, husbands, traders, or other middlemen control the money and the relationship with buyers.

“But we're creating jobs.” Is that enough?

The point is not that these artisans should have no jobs. It is that having a job does not automatically mean earning enough to live well, escape poverty, or have control over your own future. A brand can create work for a community and still leave the people making its jewellery with very little of the money their work brings in.

The real question is whether this work helps artisans build a better life and gives them more power over their own future.

There are three important questions to ask:

• Is the pay enough? Can workers earn enough to live on, given the time and skill their work takes?

• Can artisans speak up? Can they ask for better prices, turn down unfair orders, or sell their work directly?

• Who gets richer over time? Can artisans build their own businesses and save money for the future, or does most of the extra money go to exporters, middlemen, and brands?

A job can help someone today without giving them more control over their future. Having work is not the same as having the power to shape your own business or income.

A study of craft work linked to tourism in Varanasi, India, found that the gains from a growing market did not always reach the people doing the work. Much of the benefit went to a smaller group, including larger businesses.

Read Poverty Reduction Through Pro-Poor Tourism: A Case Study of Handicraft Sector of Varanasi.

If a market grows but the people making its products still struggle financially, then counting the jobs created tells only part of the story.

Are brands protecting a tradition — or using it to sell jewellery?

Traditional craft skills deserve respect. But there is a difference between helping a craft survive and using its history to sell products at a higher price.

When a brand says that buying its jewellery helps save an old tradition, ask what it is doing in practice.

Are artisans paid fairly for their time and skills? Are they named and credited for their work? Do they help decide what gets made? Can they build their own businesses? Are they gaining more power to set prices, or are they simply making more products for someone else's brand?

If a brand uses the history and skills of a community to make its products more appealing, that community should be more than just a part of its marketing story. The people doing the work should also have a fair chance to truly benefit from the money their work brings in.

The real question isn't whether brands create jobs

It is whether they share the money and power more fairly.

A brand can create jobs and still benefit from low wages. It can praise artisans and still pay them poorly. It can help keep a craft in demand without giving the people who make it much control over their future.

Things do not have to work this way. Brands can pay fair wages, explain how their products are made, offer steady work, support groups of artisans, and help makers sell directly to customers. These are real ways to help — but brands should show proof that they are doing them. A photo of a smiling worker is not proof.

So next time a jewellery brand says it is saving local craftsmanship, ask for evidence.

How much of the money reaches the artisan? Who owns the brand? Who sets the price? And who gets the chance to build a better future from this work?

Artisans in Bali, India, Morocco, and elsewhere are not simply people waiting for a foreign brand to help them. They already have the skills and knowledge that make their work special.

The question is whether the businesses that make money from those skills are willing to reward them fairly — not just praise them in their advertising.

Craftsmanship deserves more than admiration. It deserves fair pay, a voice in business decisions, and a fair share of the money it helps create.

Shop local

This is why buying from brands that make their jewellery locally can be a better choice.

For example, if you live in Europe, you could choose a brand that makes its jewellery in Germany, Italy, or Sweden. You are supporting local workers and skills, rather than trusting a brand’s promise that making jewellery in a lower-wage country will help people there escape poverty. That promise may sound good, but a job alone does not guarantee a better life. What really matters is whether workers earn enough to live on, have a say in their work, and can build a more secure future.

This does not mean that every European brand treats its workers well. But European countries generally have stronger worker protection laws, and these rules are more likely to be enforced. This gives workers more legal protection and makes it harder for companies to take advantage of them. When you buy from a brand that makes its jewellery in Germany, Italy, or Sweden for example, you are supporting local workers within a system that offers stronger protections.

Compare this with brands that make jewellery in lower-wage countries and use the promise of helping local artisans as a selling point. As we have seen, simply creating jobs does not mean that people can escape poverty or gain more control over their lives. If the work does not pay enough to build a better future, then the promise of helping local communities rings hollow. Rather than taking a brand’s claims at face value, it may be better to support businesses that produce locally, where worker protections are generally stronger and easier to check.

If you’re looking for jewellery made with this approach in mind, Rays and Riches is one place to start. We believe it’s worth choosing brands that are open about how and where their jewellery is made, and that value the people behind each piece.

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Sources and further reading

1. Human Rights Watch — The Hidden Cost of Jewelry: Human Rights in Supply Chains and the Responsibility of Jewelry Companies. Explains why jewellery supply chains can be hard to trace and highlights risks to workers.

2. Asian Journal of Management — Research on India's handicraft industry. Looks at how the handicraft industry works and why artisans may depend on middlemen.

3. Research paper hosted by IDEAS/RePEc — Poverty Reduction Through Pro-Poor Tourism: A Case Study of Handicraft Sector of Varanasi. Looks at whether the people making crafts benefit from the money brought in by tourism.

A note on the evidence: These sources raise concerns about how supply chains work, how much power middlemen have, and who benefits from sales. They do not prove that every jewellery brand acts in the same way. They also do not tell us exactly how much artisans in Bali, India, or Morocco earn from each item sold abroad. To answer that, we would need clear information from specific brands and their suppliers.