Of all the colored gems that appear in the jewelry case, anywhere from 75% to 90% come from holdings that small scale miners dig with a shovel and pick. Most of the gemstones that appear below fall in that category.
What typically happens is that dealers purchase this rough (unpolished gemstone still in its matrix) and sell the material to others, who export it to cutting centers around the world. This may then be sold to a wholesaler who presents the gem at a trade show. All these steps, and the enormous variety of locations from which various gems may be found, make it difficult to trace a particular stone back to it’s source. For all but a very few in the jewelry sector, the primary consideration in all these transactions is to buy at the lowest possible price and sell at the highest price.
Today, many people are concerned about commerce in the jewelry sector funding wars. It recently has become possible to have sapphire, ruby or aquamarine that is not only astonishingly beautiful, but also ethically or fair trade sourced from mine to market
We have the finest collection of ethically sourced gems you will find anywhere online. We know where they come from and the conditions of the cutting factories. We bring these to market proud of how they provide great benefit to the small scale artisan mining communities from which they are sourced.. You can learn about them on our sister site, Artisan Wedding Rings.
However, for stones that are less expensive, ethical sourcing is more difficult. Below is some general information about the stone choices which we offer in our Celtic jewelry that we cannot trace from mine to market.
Gemstones in alphabetical order:
