7. The Trader passes the gemstone to a Broker to sell
8. The gemstone is sold to a Wholesale Importer
9. The gemstone is sold to another Dealer, usually in the destination country
10. The dealer sells the stone to a Jeweler or Designer, who sets it into a piece of jewelry
11. If the end of the chain is a large retailer, there will be even more steps involving several manufacturers and distributors
Because of this long, winding supply chain, unethical sourcing and mining practices can easily be hidden in gemstone mining - think: labor issues, dangerous working conditions, corruption, and low wages. Also, it makes it hard for the person responsible for mining the stone to a get a fair share of the stone's sale price. When miners get their fair share, it helps bring communities out of poverty and enrich the areas where stones are mined.
Looking through that supply chain, even at Step 3, when a Dealer buys a stone from a Broker, that Broker can easily make any claims about the origins or ethics of that stone and the dealer has no way (or doesn't try) to verify the truth. Then, think about the last step in that chain – the Jeweler. They have no way to verify the true origin or mining practices behind that stone after it passes down the telephone line of 10-15 people.
If a jeweler says their gemstones are ethically sourced, but has no information about the origin or sourcing of that stone, be very wary. Oftentimes these Jewelers are taking the word of the dealer they purchased it from, and sometimes they are just claiming “ethically sourced” because it’s what the market wants to hear or conflating it with "conflict free" sourcing.
We believe "ethically sourced" has a different meaning than "conflict-free" although the industry often uses these words interchangeably.
Transparency is what matters in gem mining - we should all be able to purchase gemstones that align with our ethos and that's only possible if we know the truth behind a stone. When you're dealing with someone honest that doesn't know (or can't verify) a stone's origin, they will simply say they can't be sure.
At Gem Breakfast, we always try to source mine to market stones or stones with origin, however depending on the client’s design requirements, it can be challenging. We ask clients to understand that when we say “we don’t know” about a specific stone's origin, that is the most ethical answer (when many in the industry feel compelled to stretch the truth to appease clients). We all deserve the truth without a filter.