Ethically mined gemstones

[lexilex]

Hello everyone!

After I unintentionally hijacked someone's post with ethical matters, it was suggested that I start a new topic concerning ethically mined sapphires, rubies and emeralds. So here it is.

I would like to know your thoughts on the matter. Do you care if your gem is mined ethically? Is it something that you consider before buying?

Thanks in advance!

 

[arkieb1]

My in laws have attempted to sell ethically mined fossils, gemstones and crystals and minerals for many many years way before it became fashionable to do so, what I resent is vendors who charge a premium to do so, because it's some sort of trendy thing to do..... We should all in theory try to attempt to buy stones that are ethically sourced however, having said that it isn't always 100% that easy to do unless you personally travel to the mines and source the stones for yourself, you have to trust what the vendors tell you and frequently they themselves are in situations were they get stones that they can't be 100% sure either.

 

[chrono]

Yes, I do, but I also know that it is nearly impossible to know 100% unless the buyer goes down to the mines himself to observe the process not just once but consistently. Thus, I don't buy from just anyone.

 

[Arcadian]

I agree with Chrono on this.

Unless you're down there mining yourself, it can be near impossible to know the supply chain of a stone. If the seller is ethical, thats good enough for me.

 

[lexilex]

My in laws have attempted to sell ethically mined fossils, gemstones and crystals and minerals for many many years way before it became fashionable to do so, what I resent is vendors who charge a premium to do so, because it's some sort of trendy thing to do..... We should all in theory try to attempt to buy stones that are ethically sourced however, having said that it isn't always 100% that easy to do unless you personally travel to the mines and source the stones for yourself, you have to trust what the vendors tell you and frequently they themselves are in situations were they get stones that they can't be 100% sure either.

It's true that adding a premium without a reason is not very honest. But I know that mining ethically does cost a lot more money than let's say buying directly from the street and then reselling. Ethical mining companies have to pay for things like salaries, safety equipment, healthcare, insurance, building schools, churches, training programs for their employees. Without forgetting the cost to replant the fauna that was destroyed after the mining process. So I understand why ethical stones are usually more expensive.

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

100% correct: Any ethical product depends on tightly controlling the complete supply-chain. Yet, even at the very beginning of the gemstone world 'moral' or ethical behavior is tricky at best. Ed's ''The boy and the sapphire' is really nice and tells you all. Read the papers and you see that the best organized mega-NGOs end up doing as much good as bad in developing countries. It's like politics, or worse.

Lexilex, how, or who, do you suppose will bring a global ethical standard into such chaos?

P.S. I'm so proud of my hyperlink! Took me forever. I hope it works.

 

[lexilex]

100% correct: Any ethical product depends on tightly controlling the complete supply-chain. Yet, even at the very beginning of the gemstone world 'moral' or ethical behavior is tricky at best. Ed's ''The boy and the sapphire' is really nice and tells you all. Read the papers and you see that the best organized mega-NGOs end up doing as much good as bad in developing countries. It's like politics, or worse.

Lexilex, how, or who, do you suppose will bring a global ethical standard into such chaos?

P.S. I'm so proud of my hyperlink! Took me forever. I hope it works.

Yes the link works! Thanks a lot for that! Will watch it for sure. ( my internet is extremely slow today, I don't know why). What I honestly think will happen is that more and more big luxury brand companies will make sure their stones are mined ethically. If the top 3 luxury brands do this ( because more and more of their clients want to be guilt free), than the other brands which are almost as big will have to jump on the bandwagon so as not to lose any market shares. 3 years ago, no one was asking for ethical stones and none of those big brands really cared. They are now seeing that if they don't start offering cleaner stones , they will start losing money. So they've decided that it was time to initiate something and push for regulations that will benefit them.

Like I previously talked about, the OECD already started talks about tracing gems back to their origin so as to control the way they are mined. I'm guessing the IMF will start putting their nose into it soon, since they are giving a lot of funds to countries like Madagascar and would like them to stand on their own two feet. Something Madagascar and the likes would be able to do if they where able to control who mines their soil, how much stones are mined, and what is being taken out of their country. ( so they can put taxes in place and benefit). With the illegal mining, you have people from abroad who come in and buy the stones from illegal miners ( for peanuts) they then stuff these stones in their shoes, underwear and what not, and leave the country without declaring them. Countries like Madagascar are losing a LOT of money through illegal mining.

In the end it's all a question of money for both the brands and the governments. None really care about the well-being of the people and of the environment. If legal and controlled mining makes them more cash, that's what they will put in place. However they do it.

But I'm not delusional , I'm pretty certain that if a regulation passed on ethical gems, some will always find a way to go around it and make money anyway.

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

Remember the scandal around these defect airbags that actually killed dozens of people? It took months before the big car-brands eventually acknowledged the problem and then only by finger-pointing while people still got killed? Or the burning batteries in Samsung phones? I'm not very optimistic about this top-down approach. In the end the power is where the money comes from, and that is from the consumers, but they hardly know what is going on. Until there is a movie made like 'Blood Diamonds' but about mining sapphires and rubies, ethically conscious consumers will continue to shun diamonds and assume that colored gems are 'morally cleaner' (are they?).

 

[pregcurious]

It would be interesting to see a documentary about this.

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

There have been several reality TV shows about the gem trade, but more about the gambling/adventure part rather than about the reality in mining countries. I can't recall the names, but perhaps they are on youtube.

 

[bigsky_wanderer]

Two words: Montana sapphires

 

[chrono]

Two words: Montana sapphires

Support the local economy. Buy American!

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

Re: Montana.
Isn't it true that important colors like hot pink, cornflower or color-changers are not found in Montana? It is mostly sky blue, or green-blue I see, some yellow and multi-colors but the really intense colors are Sri Lanka, Burma and Africa.

And, if one wants to be sure about ethical issues, Australia is anaother origin to consider. I assume the Australians have no slave kids in their mines, right? I saw great dark blue and green offered from Australia.

 

[arkieb1]

Re: Montana.
Isn't it true that important colors like hot pink, cornflower or color-changers are not found in Montana? It is mostly sky blue, or green-blue I see, some yellow and multi-colors but the really intense colors are Sri Lanka, Burma and Africa.

And, if one wants to be sure about ethical issues, Australia is anaother origin to consider. I assume the Australians have no slave kids in their mines, right? I saw great dark blue and green offered from Australia.

The best Aussie sapphires don't compare to the best from Sri Lanka, Burma and Africa, Australian ones are darker blues, a different shade of yellow and green, they do come in some cool looking parti(mixed) colours, and the ones from the US are indeed also not in the same colour spectrum.

I guess what I find ironic is the Gem Industry is suddenly charging more money (yes I get that ethical mining costs more) for ethically mined high end stones like sapphires, rubies (the ban on Burmese rubies imported to the US has finished or is about to end) and emeralds being mined ethically, yet side by side in the same stores beating this "we want to you to buy ethically sourced stones from us" drum they stock things like spinels, chrysoberyl, tourmalines and a whole host of less well known stones (to the general population) that could have come from mines that exploit their workers or countries that have dirt poor people.

Any large store that tells you they have mines in every single country of all of their stock or they go to every single country and source the stock (I do know a couple of dealers and cutters that do this) is probably misleading their customers, the simple truth is a lot of them buy stones from markets, from small miners and from farmers on the side of the road etc, so unless they stand there when they are getting them out of the ground or out of rivers etc, they can only ever have a limited clue of how some of their stock was obtained.

 

[jordyonbass]

I agree with Chrono on this.

Unless you're down there mining yourself, it can be near impossible to know the supply chain of a stone. If the seller is ethical, thats good enough for me.

While I agree it is difficult to do in all cases, I don't think it can be near impossible by any means. I buy rough opal that's reportedly from Lightning Ridge and while I have never been to the mines or met the miners, I'm reassured that it is indeed what I believe it to be.

 

[chrono]

Jordy,
If it is an Aussie stone, I think it's safe due to your labour laws. It's the same with US mined CS. In fact, some very pretty blue sapphires come from Down Under but are passed off as Madagascar or Sri Lankan or other origin in order to be able to claim higher pricing.

 

[arkieb1]

I agree with Chrono on this.

Unless you're down there mining yourself, it can be near impossible to know the supply chain of a stone. If the seller is ethical, thats good enough for me.

While I agree it is difficult to do in all cases, I don't think it can be near impossible by any means. I buy rough opal that's reportedly from Lightning Ridge and while I have never been to the mines or met the miners, I'm reassured that it is indeed what I believe it to be.

Lightening Ridge isn't in the middle of a guerilla war like Burma or places in Africa, that is what we are talking about here, not just the unknown pathway from stones to gem cutters and from gem cutters to gemstone dealers and or jewellery stores.

I know a guy who buys stones which are supposed to be ethically sourced from Burma and he can't get into where they come from at the moment because of the fighting, it's too dangerous to be there..... Buying ethically sourced stones is being aware of who is making money (like warlords for example) from them and who could be being exploited in obtaining them, which is usually the miners and the farmers or land owners and generally a number of dirt poor people in the chain before they actually get to places like Western Countries, and Asian and European markets.

 

[normanintheskywithsapphires]

I had the opportunity to discuss this topic with Ed Bristol (a privilege of the frequent-buyer I guess). As some may know, Ed regards himself as pioneer in the field, going back to his childhood experiences with true poverty and civil war in Sri Lanka, and reaching over 40 years to today web-based gem trade. My take-away was the good old 'devil and the details'. As he describes so nicely in his story of the sapphire crystal, even if you are literally neck-deep in the mining process, moral and ethical business practices are multidimensional issues and 'hell is littered with good intentions' or so. To him, in his specific business, the best is to support a well-functioning charity and do the obvious right thing where you know what you are doing.