Gemstone traceability: Viable objective or unrealistic challenge?

The challenge of traceability is significant for all sectors of the jewelery industry, which is characterized by lengthy supply chains in which many of the participants are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but nowhere more so than with colored gemstones. Where the precious metals, diamonds and even the pearl sectors are dominated by larger producers, about 80% of colored gemstones are sourced from artisanal miners, mainly in developing countries.

This ninth Jewellery Industry Voices webinar looks at the difficulties and also the possible solutions becoming available for members of the colored gemstone industry in the new market environment. It features four experts, each with a different perspective – Clement Sabbagh, President of the International Coloured Gemstone Association (ICA); Hayley Henning, Chief Commercial Officer of Greenland Ruby, a gemstone mining company that is among the few large-scale industrialised mining operations in the colored gemstone sector; Cristina Villegas, Director of the mining program at Pact; and Daniel Nyfeler, Managing Director of the Gübelin Gem Lab, which has been developing technological solutions to enable traceability in the colored gemstone trade.