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.
- 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.
