Ethically sourced gems involve developing an entirely new approach to the supply chain that, in principal, is similar to the slow food, organics movement. Just as people want the link between farm to table, those developing a fair trade gemstone product are looking for the mine to market custody chain. Though some gemstones, particularly diamonds,

Introduction: Guy Clutterbuck, who was recently featured in the GIA Winter Loop Magazine, has been sourcing gemstones in Africa and around the world for decades. His relationships with small scale miners, based on trust, is highly unusual and stands in contrast to the generally toxic relationship between the small scale miners and their typical buyer.

Introduction: In the gathering information about the artisanal gemstone mining sector, a European gemstone dealer emailed me with this comment. This post really isn’t directly connected to either Mohamed or Jim, yet I decided to include it anyway. It points to why we need some kind of new structure that will break the post colonial