Impact

SAPPHIRE SOUL

I love sapphires. I love their mainly deep-as-the-deep-blue-sea kind of blue. It’s September, so this is their month -- and it’s my birthstone -- but that only adds a small sentimental tinge for me. It’s really about how beautiful I think they are to look at and to wear. But lately I’ve been more concerned with where things come from, as well as what and who was impacted in producing them because, for me, that’s part of what makes something beautiful…. or not.

Photo: Courtesy of Joshua Michael Jewelers

Like diamonds, gold, and other precious materials, when you look deeper into sapphires’ human stories, that’s when things usually start to get ugly. The mining process is where it gets the most brutal. People and land both get horribly exploited and abused, more often than not. Once I learned that, it’s hard for me to dismiss the ugliness in favor of the beauty.

So we set out to find truly beautiful sapphires and share their stories with you.

The ethical and fair trade movements, which began in the 1980’s and 1990’s, originally focused on agriculture and manufacturing, initially raised awareness about human rights. Their missions expanded to include helping improve conditions in manufacturing industries, and the protect the environment. Only in recent years has the movement begun to include the precious minerals and jewelry industries.

Photo: Courtesy of Ruby Sapphire

“Making Trouble: Fighting for Fairtrade Jewellery,” is a new book by Greg Valerio, a fair trade jeweler as well as a human rights and environmental activist. He is passionate about elevating the lives of the people who work on the low end of the supply chain.

The opportunity to do good is greater than just changing the balance of money. Fair Jewellery Action (FJA), is a human rights and environmental justice organization, co-founded by Valerio, that is working to develop local economies, support cultural preservation, and environmental sustainability.

Photo: Courtesy of Gem Explorer

If you want to feel good about the sapphires you buy, consider the sources, from raw stone, to cutting, design, manufacturing, right through to the jewelry store. FJA supports jewelers who want to join them in their quest. FJA educates jewelers, designers, and retailers about the social, environmental and economic issues at stake, and about options that can make a positive impact. The organization also supports indigenous peoples and their rights to profit from resources found in their countries. For example, FJA is currently supporting the rights of Inuit small-scale ruby miners to mine, own, transform and sell ruby from Greenland. FJA also supports small-scale miners, helping them through financial support and consulting, to reach fairtrade certification.

The environmental damage caused by sapphire and colored gemstone mining is less than with other types of mining, because it doesn’t use chemicals to extract these precious minerals from the ground. is avoidable. But there is damage.

Environmental impacts like water pollution, deforestation, and soil erosion, destroy local ecosystems. But these can all be remediated and managed, through a shift to different mining techniques and considered planning.

Photo: Courtesy of HIWTC.

Brilliant Earth is one company we found that specializes in ethical sapphires. They source from ethically managed mines in Australia, Sri Lanka, and Malawi. Their source mines adhere to strict labor, trade, and environmental protocols. Their mines boast a zero impact on local water quality. They then manage a tight chain of custody, tracking their sapphires from the moment they are mined to their final delivery, to insure integrity. Their mission: “to better the lives of those negatively affected by the mining and trading of sapphires and other gemstones.”

All of Brilliant Earth’s jewelry comes certified attesting to its ethical and fair trade DNA. No child labor. No environmental damage. Fair pay, with benefits, for fair work.

Brilliant Earth’s Australian sapphire source mines have restored of all mined land back to original or better condition. They limit the use of power equipment. Their Malawi sapphires. often pink and yellow ones, come from mines who help to educate the local children. And their Sri Lankan sapphires come from mines that are worked using in ancient techniques that have supported local communities for over 2000 years, without damage. Sri Lankan sapphire miners operate in cooperatives, called karahaula. They are artisans who share labor and production costs as well as profits.

Photo: Courtesy of Johri Bazaar

Rubyfair.com is a partnership between British Jewellers and Tanzanian Miners committed to miners’ welfare and environmental stewardship. They help support local infrastructure development as well as schools and orphanages. They source their water from onsite mines to preserve water supplies serving local villages. After they extract the sapphires, they replace all soil and stone removed from the land, restoring it to its original state. And they manage noise from blasting, warning whistles and other work related sounds so that they minimize disturbance to their neighboring communities.

You can buy loose Rubyfair sapphires, either faceted or cabochon, on their website, and have your jewelry custom made or you can purchase their sapphires through one of their affiliated ethical jewelers.

Photo: Courtesy of Robert Procop

Earlier this year, jewelry designer, Robert Procop, partnered with Angelina Jolie to create the Style of Jolie brand expressly for the purpose of funding charities benefiting children in crisis. One-hundred percent of the jewelry line’s profits fuel Education Partnerships for Children of Conflicts, co-founded by Jolie, which builds schools for girls in conflict zones. Their first project was to build a school in Afghanistan.

Procup, former CEO of Asprey & Garrard, currently operates as Robert Procop Exceptional Jewels. The name is not an exaggeration. Procup trades in statement gemstones, like this 63.27 carat cushion blue sapphire ring. In addition to supporting Jolie’s philanthropic endeavors, for more than thirty years, Procop’s gems have funded other programs helping women and children at risk.

It’s amazing to consider that the sale of one ring could build a whole new school for kids who otherwise would have none.

Sapphires are more beautiful when we make sure that people and the earth are treated with respect, are cared for and rewarded. As I sit and sip my fair trade coffee, I’m imagining how I would feel wearing some ethical sapphires --- dreaming just a little, with a birthday just around the corner! It’s a nice dream.

Read about the beauty of Sapphire all this week, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact.