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Everyone in our supply chain deserves a living wage and safe working conditions. That’s why we’re committed to knowing the origin of every component in our products.
Gemstones are central to our story and are featured in nearly all our jewelry. However, tracing their journey reveals a complex network of intermediaries.
Despite our best efforts, full traceability remains a challenge. This is frustrating, as our dream is a supply chain free of exploitation. That’s why we've decided to start at the source first: the mines.
Many natural gemstones come from small-scale mines that operate with minimal government oversight. Worldwide, around 45 million people rely on artisanal and small-scale mining as their primary source of income, with an estimated 1.5 million of them working in the colored gemstones sector.
The conditions in these mines are often far from ideal, with risks of child labor, unfair wages, and physically demanding work. Many miners live below the poverty line. However, abandoning the use of gemstones is not an option for us - it would take away their income, which we don’t want.
The solution lies in creating a transparent supply chain where we have influence over the entire process, from the mine to the final consumer.
We’re starting in northern Tanzania, a region rich in the gemstones we use. Here, we collaborate with the NGO Pact and the Tanzanian Women Miners Association (Tawoma) on an initiave called Moyo Gems.
Moyo Gems is a collective of 400 miners, primarily women. Fair trade practices increase their financial security, while the partnership ensures a safe working environment. Moyo Gems already deals in high-value gemstones, but our project focuses on mid- and low-value gemstones, which involve much larger volumes. It’s crucial to find buyers for these stones as well.
The goal is for miners to earn a living income and work under good conditions. To achieve this, we’re setting up a new procurement system that ensures gemstones are bought directly from small, local, and safe mines at fair prices. But we’re not stopping at the procurement system. We’re also investing in training programs to enable young people to become gemstone cutters.
Additionally, we process the stones locally to ensure as much value as possible remains in Tanzania.
At A Beautiful Story, we understand that collaboration is essential to making a difference. That’s why our supply chain will be open. Once the foundation is in place, we’ll invite other brands to join us.
Happinez is our first commercial partner and will feature jewelry with gemstones from Tanzania in their webshop.
Building a new supply chain isn’t our core business, It requires persistence and collaboration. Thanks to a grant from the Responsible Business Fund (SPVO) of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), we can work on this project in Tanzania over the next three years.
Stay tuned
We’ve purchased the first gemstones. Our goal is to use only ethically sourced stones for all our jewelry—starting in Tanzania and eventually from other regions worldwide.
By 2025, we expect the first jewelry with responsibly sourced gemstones to be available for purchase.
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