Green Gem Foundation - This is What FAIRTrade Is About!

6.20 ct Tanzanian Chrome Tourmaline by David Dawson

Green Gem Foundation is a fledging organization composed of a group of artists and gemstone dealers making a grassroots effort and working cooperatively towards a common goal. 

The goal is defined as connecting the artists and dealers in gem producing countries with the consumer.

This sustainable model is the future of the gem trade. It is already happening.  Across Africa the values of sold stones in the West are now widely known — Internet access has provided a level playing field.

18k yellow gold, David Dawson's Chrome Tourmaline
of Tanzanian origin, unheated/untreated, 6.20 carats in
a frame of diamonds, .68 ctw - By Gordon Aatlo Designs   

The model of exporting raw materials then marking those materials up is changing, and will continue to change. At the consumer level it's the added ethical component that shows true sustainability — it is a message understood at the gut level.

The Green Gem approach is simple we are working to add value at the source. We are not concentrating on giving back programs, training, or any approach that does not support this increased added value. We are interested and will address a need if we see it, but our emphasis is to help to provide direct market access thus supporting infrastructure by bringing more cash into the country. Not through the hands of a few but through everyone's hands at all levels.  Cash provides sustainability — it comes without conditions, it arrives direct.

 Jean-Noel Soni's tribute to the Taylor-Burton
Diamond - in Kenyan Zircon 

The gemstone market is huge.  We recognize that we represent one small sphere of influence.  The traditional flow of gems will continue for some time, but with increased market access this tradition will change.  

As we continue to organize as a company, moving forward, more and more people are stepping up.  Green Gem is currently a non-profit — and while we are working toward our charitable 501(c)3 status donations to us are not yet tax-deductible.  The organization is looking for committed individuals to bring unique talents to the table.  We are past the core planning stage and the work lies ahead.

Let us know how you would like to get involved, you can reach us through our website.

Follow our blog and "Like" us on Facebook...

Source:  The Green Gem Foundation Website

Colored Gems Celebrated at D&H Sustainable Jewelers Event!

Wine Tasting for a Cause at D&H Sustainable Jewelers

D&H is unique in the U.S. being the only retail jewelry store with a wine bar.  The sustainable wines that guests enjoyed throughout the event were handcrafted selections from featured Storrs Winery in the Santa Cruz area.

The presentation of projects at D&H was a preview for the November 18 premiere of Green Gem at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco, and through the expert suggestions of Shawn Higgens and Lindsay Daunell of D&H, Green Gem was able to bring to sharp focus the direct connection to the source gem countries.  

Jean-Noel Soni and Jeffrey Hunt, of  Green Gem Foundation, presented the projects and gems in full detail – each with a story, striking an immediate cord with the event goers. The enthusiasm at D&H was palpable. 

RESULTS:  The Wine Tasting for a Cause event sponsored at San Francisco’s D&H Sustainable Jewelers November 11 and 12 to benefit the Green Gem Foundation resulted in the funding of two full projects and partial funding of another.

The projects funded for Green Gem include:

• a precision gem faceting machine to be given to two Afghan women that are currently being trained in Afghanistan by Green Gem co-director Jim Rentfrow.  The faceting machine was donated by Shawn Higgens of D&H.  
• The second project, fully funded through the direct purchase of a Tanzanian chrome tourmaline, is to be applied to year three and four of high school for a young girl in Voi, Kenya who has lost both parents.  Without this funding she would not be able to continue with her education.
• The third project, 50% funded by a direct purchase of a Kenyan zircon, will be used to install simple railing in a mine outside Kabul.  This represents an extreme labor saving device to the miners who are now extracting material by bucket.

With the successful Wine Tasting for a Cause at D&H Jewelers, Green Gem Foundation’s goal of funding six projects through the 111 Minna Premiere is over two-thirds complete!  A wonderful kickoff for this new foundation.

Tasteful event reminders were sent out by the creative Jeffrey Hunt in White and Blush!

 

About D&H Sustainable Jewelers:

We do not want to reduce the viability of luxury products by selling things that hurt our environment today.

The resources and technology exist today to allow customers to have a green choice. By creating transparency in our "traditional" industry, we can all feel good about what we are buying and selling.

We believe that sustainability must take into account all of these aspects: social, environmental, cultural, and economic. You have to do this on a local level.

Green does not have to be grunge.

About Green Gem Foundation:

The Green Gem Foundation is a new non-profit organization established to promote the development of ethical gemstones. Green Gem promotes community and economic development in gem producing regions with the primary goal of keeping as much wealth as possible in the source country. The communities are built by establishing direct connections between the purchaser and retailer to the miner and gem brokers in the country of origin. Green Gem Foundation does not directly carry or promote gems or gem rough that have been processed in intermediate countries. This represents an actual break from traditional supply lines.

The commercial outsourcing of gems to cutting houses in China, Thailand, and Sri Lanka is the industry standard. These lower cost gems, with increasing quality of cut and design permit sorely needed profit, to the jewelry industry in the US. This industry standard will be slow to change, but as our world shrinks, and more consumers insist on ethically sourced gems, Green Gem Foundation will help to provide that link and alternative to this rapidly growing segment of the consumer market.

Premiere Gallery Exhibition of the Green Gem Foundation

If you are in San Francisco - this is a DO NOT MISS EVENT!  See you there!