Sourcing Ethically Considered Sapphires
More and more, clients are approaching our services with a keen eye towards ethical consideration in their gemstone sourcing process. We love this, because it’s an element of jewelry design that, for these clients, imbues their piece with more thought and meaning. Knowing that their feature gemstone was sourced with their own particular ethical guideposts in mind makes their custom piece that much more important and, even on a small scale, it sends a signal that clients are demanding more wholistic consideration to the production of fine jewelry. We feel strongly that these standards are here to stay, and we take every effort to stay up-to-date on developing sourcing methods that allow for greater transparency in the sourcing process.
This is one benefit of our model of only doing custom sourcing for all diamonds and gemstones for our clients: by resisting a inventory of gemstones that may not reflect evolving standards, we can adapt to the needs of our clients on a case-by-case basis. We view our role as one of education, not to push particular sourcing methods or standards, and we completely understand that each client has her own personal considerations at hand when considering this decision.
For example, we recently sourced a gorgeous pear-cut blue sapphire for a client who takes transparent sourcing extremely seriously. She wanted to ensure that her feature stone would be reflective of her own personal objectives of avoiding polluting or exploitative industries, so we focused our sourcing on sapphires that came from the US (Montana) or from a small-scale mining cooperative. We ordered in four pear-cut beautifully watery-blue sapphires fell within a particular color range and went through each gem individually to evaluate its clarity and hue. We examined each gemstone using a loupe and discussed the origin of each gem - two were from Montana, and two were pulled from Moyo Gems, a female-led cooperative based in Tanzania that uses a mine-to-market model. We also discussed how each sapphire would fit into her overall design objectives, which we had already discussed in a previous meeting. Sapphires at this size are typically not cut to calibrated sizes and shapes, so there can be a tremendous amount of variation in the depth of the stone and how well it will work in a design.
Sourcing Sapphires
These pretty sapphires all show color zoning and clarity characteristics that add to their character, but would be considered flaws in classic sapphire grading. The two on the left are from Tanzania, and the two on the right are from Montana. You can see the signature underlaying hues in them that reflect their respective origins: Tanzania’s minerality tends to lean more violet, while Montana sapphires tend to have a greener hue.
One thing to keep in mind about sourcing sapphires with specific ethical considerations is that it does limit your universe of options tremendously. Sapphires come in dozens of colors and hundreds of hues and cut variations, but certain colors are more typically found in certain markets. For example, a true, deep-water Royal Blue will almost always come from Sri Lanka (Ceylon origin) and green sapphires often come from Montana or Australia. The vast majority of true high-quality, clean, well-graded sapphires come from Sri Lanka while many of the smaller-scale mines offer more “alternative” quality grading, such as sapphires with noticeable hue displacement, clarity factors, or non-traditional colors such as greens, greys, and purples. If you want a classic Royal Blue sapphire, it will be a challenge to pair this with a desire to source your sapphire from Montana. These aren’t hard-set rules, but it’s good to keep this in mind when finding that perfect sapphire: you may need to weigh specific visual effects against the sourcing parameters you have in place. Also, all of these elements affect pricing. “Off-hue” sapphires are often significantly less expensive than their more traditionally valued true-blue counterparts, so depending on which color you prefer you may have more or less flexibility in your budget.
Green-Blue Montana Sapphire
Blue “Ceylon” Sapphire from Sri Lanka
One good thing to know is that Sri Lanka has a very historically established, well-regarded mining industry that is relatively transparent and held in high esteem. I, personally, wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a sapphire form Sri Lanka but others might have different factors in mind when researching their best option and prefer to stick to a US-sourced or small-scale production option.
If you are considering a sapphire for your bespoke or custom design, set up an appointment to talk through your options. You may be surprised at the breadth of availability we can offer!