Emeralds and Ethics The beguiling gem is finally equally attractive in its sourcing methods, as progressive mining firms are bringing principled practices to Zambia, Colombia and beyond. AVRIL GROOM reports on the transformation occurring below ground and on the high street. Jewellery designer Vania Leles holds up an earring, winged with emeralds and diamonds and fringed with six graduated rows of delicate pear-shaped emeralds, dropping like green rain. It is part of a suite and the emeralds all come from Zambia, through Gemfields, which has owned the Kagem mine since 2008 and brought ethics and order to a formerly chaotic area of jewellery. Leles is still a small player, though as a former designer for Graff with a New Bond Street showroom, VanLeles, alongside bigger competitors, she is getting noticed. She comes from Guinea-Bissau and her USP is using African stones and, where possible, African gold. “I wanted to work with Gemfields because its stones are ethically produced,” she says. “That is very important: I believe the beauty of jewellery should go back to the mine, and a commitment to fair production.” She was set a conundrum by a client who wanted a ring specifically with a Colombian emerald, historically an area not known for ethical production but which many still consider the best source. The famous Muzo mine has recently relaunched, after a 0m investment, with high-tech and socially responsible production methods, and in obtaining one of its stones Leles was able to satisfy both her client and her principles. Jewellery houses rarely reveal their gem sources, as competition for the best stones is ferocious now that investors, as well as collectors, are helping to push prices up. But a new generation of wealthy buyers, well informed in advance, is inclined to ask detailed questions about gems and the conditions in which they are produced, just as they might about the food they buy. Indian jeweller Nirav Modi, who has just opened a multistorey boutique on Bond Street, says that “twenty five years ago it was not a jeweller’s responsibility to question how stones were mined and what conditions the workers endured, whereas now clients are aware of differing standards and want to be reassured. They may not ask about a particular stone but they want to understand that a brand has high standards, and no serious jeweller can afford to offer anything less.” He admires the example that Gemfields has set: it is responsible for producing about 20% of the world’s emeralds and is now setting the same standards for ruby production in Mozambique mines. Modi’s own preference, however, is for Colombian stones, though he uses other sources such as the glowing, but lighter, Brazilian emerald beads in his showpiece Maharani necklace. “The Brazilian trade has been transparent and traceable for a long time, and we’ve had those beads for years – the mine they came from is now closed,” he says. “The difficulty was in matching the smaller emeralds in the piece to them. I find Zambian emeralds can look black in certain lights and though I admit that Colombian stones can be variable in colour, in general they possess an extra liveliness and depth. So I am happy that some are now traceable and ethical.” Sameer Lilani, UK director of Amrapali, also finds that Colombian stones carry a premium with clients, “especially old mine stones from top-quality sources often no longer producing”. He notes that “ethical Colombian stones are wonderful” and, echoing the other upper-echelon jewellers, says that “clients increasingly care”. 84 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
lood emerald, Nobody wants a especially at the top of the market PHOTO XINHUA/LAIF The jewellery business has been trying to clean up its act since before the Kimberley Process was created in 2003 to prevent conflict diamonds entering the mainstream, but emeralds from Colombia lagged behind, due in part to the influence of the drugs trade and the state’s 52-year war with FARC guerrillas, which is currently in a tentative peace period. It was a brave move by US investor MTC to enter this area, albeit with Colombian government support. The firm needs the labour of skilled local miners who still extract the stones by pick from narrow veins, after the initial work with large, high-tech vehicles, and they are well paid by local standards. Social projects include support for locals who used to make a living by extracting from the tailings smaller stones that are now picked up by efficient equipment. Yet most visitors are still taken to the mine, in a lush, narrow Andean valley, by helicopter rather than risking the long road, and the stones travel under armed guard to the capital, Bogotà, for processing. “Nobody wants a blood emerald, especially at the top of the market,” commented the company’s president Charles Burgess recently. “So we control our emeralds from the moment they come out of the earth until they are sold.” Traceability has worked for Gemfields and its stones now adorn jewellery from ethically minded companies like Georg Jensen and Chopard, where they are set in Fairmined South American gold. Grand houses such as Cartier, Graff or Van Cleef and Arpels – whose 2016 high jewellery collection Émeraude en Majesté features emeralds of many colours and cuts in a stunningly creative display – and Harry Winston, whose stock of beautiful Colombian emeralds is mixed with classic cluster diamonds to great effect, are always careful to trace their sources and comply with the Responsible Jewelry Council’s codes of practice. Now Muzo emeralds are gaining similar trust, used in Boodles’ Greenfire suite and Chanel’s new Blés de Chanel collection. There are rumours that Gemfields is planning to buy a Colombian mine. With demand for emeralds at an all-time high, this final rehabilitation would be very welcome across the globe. CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 85
