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If you're in the market for exquisite gemstones that not only dazzle but also make a positive impact, you're not alone! We are so excited to spotlight one of our favorite sourcing partners, Moyo Gems - a responsible miner-to-market gemstone collaboration that has its roots in East Africa. We will touch on what sets Moyo Gems apart, why we work with them to source our gemstones, and how you can support the Moyo Gems mission yourself.    Introducing Moyo Gems  Moyo Gems partners with women artisanal gem miners in Tanzania and Kenya, along with their male allies, to bring stunning gemstones to the global market. Moyo Gems upholds a strong commitment to promoting empowerment, fairness, and ethical practices along the supply chain. With a mission deeply rooted in miner empowerment, Moyo Gems strives to ensure fair trade, enhance financial security for miners, and create equitable markets for gemstones. Their commitment to miner education helps set a new standard for ethical sourcing in the jewelry industry. Instead of using middlemen, miners themselves are selling the rough gemstones, generating money directly for their own community - which is something we can all get behind!  What makes Moyo Gems special? What sets Moyo Gems apart is their commitment to miner empowerment and supply chain transparency. The name "Moyo" means “heart” in Kiswahili, a language widely spoken in Tanzania and Kenya. This name encapsulates their mission, as Moyo Gems truly represents "gems from the heart." They work hard to empower women miners, improve mining conditions, enhance financial security, and create equitable markets for fair trade. For example, Moyo educates miners about the true cost of the gemstones they’re mining, to help workers ensure that they are paid a fair price for their valuable goods. This education is supremely empowering for mining groups that have historically been marginalized from the global market and devalued for their hard work.  In a world where ethical concerns in the jewelry industry loom large, Moyo Gems is a beacon of hope. Their dedication to empowering miners and ensuring responsible practices offers the perfect model for others to follow. We are excited to be part of this journey towards a more ethical and sustainable jewelry industry, one gem at a time. Meet the women gemstone producers of Tanzania's Umba Valley Why W.R. Metalarts chooses Moyo Gems  At W.R. Metalarts we are proud to work with Moyo Gems because we share their commitment to integrity and transparent sourcing. Moyo Gems aligns perfectly with our mission to ensure that every person involved in crafting our jewelry is treated with dignity and receives fair compensation. Like Moyo Gems, we proactively engage with miners, stonecutters, and refiners in our supply chain to ensure our materials meet our ethical standards. We believe in forging personal relationships with our suppliers to guarantee that your jewelry is made with integrity, intention, and transparent practices. It is clear that organizations like Moyo Gems are necessary players for creating a more responsible jewelry industry - and we are committed to supporting this initiative every step of the way.  How you can be a part of the positive change When you choose a transparently sourced gemstone like one from Moyo Gems, you're not just acquiring a beautiful piece of jewelry - you're also supporting a network that knows exactly who mined the gem, where it came from, and who cut it. The traceability of Moyo Gems adds an extra layer of assurance, giving you peace of mind that your jewelry is aligned with your values.  So, the next time you wear a piece of jewelry adorned with a Moyo Gem, remember that it not only sparkles with beauty but also shines with the light of ethical sourcing and empowerment. Together, we can make a difference—one gemstone at a time. Click here to explore our collection of Moyo Gems, or feel free to email us at studio@wrmetalarts.com to start a custom piece containing a Moyo Gem or other ethically mined gemstone. Your jewelry can indeed tell a story not only of love and beauty, but also of ethical and sustainable values.     Enjoy 5% off your first order & be the first to know about new collections, exclusive offers & more!  

We were super lucky to experience the renowned Tucson Gem show for the first time in-person this year and we are so excited to share what we learned with you! Enjoy 5% off your first order & be the first to know about new collections, exclusive offers & more!   What is the Tucson Gem Show? (and why did we go this year…)  The Tucson Gem Show is not actually one show, but a vast array of shows that span the city for over three weeks! Suppliers from around the world converge to celebrate and sell a multitude of gems, minerals, and fossils. We were most excited to attend the Ethical Gem Fair - a four day event sponsored by our friends at the Ethical Gem Suppliers  collaborative. We’ve spent the past several years working closely with many of these like-minded folx on Ethical Metalsmith Zoom meetings, Webinars or through their online stores and we were honored to connect in person! Not only was it thrilling to be around so many passionate gemstone enthusiasts, we were also energized by seeing and feeling so many beautiful gemstones in real life!  The Ethical Gem Fair brings together gemstone suppliers focused on responsible sourcing, with jewelry designers from large and small businesses who are all committed to environmental and social ethics at every point along the supply chain. While we’ve already been working with many of these suppliers - such as Columbia Gem House, Moyo Gems, VirtuGem, and others - it was amazing to actually meet these partners, find new ethical gemstone sources, and see so many beautiful stones in real life! Each of these suppliers were excited to answer questions and share each gemstone’s origin story. The ability of these suppliers to trace the complete story of a stone, from where it was mined, to who mined it, who cut it, and whose hands it passed through all the way to the gem show was incredible. Many of these suppliers buy rough gemstones directly from the miners and work to support local artisans who cut and polish the stones near the mines. They support the local mining communities with projects and programs chosen by the people that live there and we are so excited to work with more direct suppliers like Moyo Gems and VirtuGem in the future! What is Ethical Jewelry?  ‘Ethical jewelry’ has become a bit of a buzzword that has, unfortunately, become a fixture of many greenwashing campaigns in the jewelry industry. Because this term is at the core of our values rather than merely a marketing strategy at W.R. Metalarts, we are going to define what Ethical Jewelry means to us. We believe in informed transparency about all of our materials’ sources. We are committed to supporting artisanal miners and mining communities, promoting healthy and safe working conditions, and avoiding environmentally destructive practices. We are committed to deepening our understanding and working to address the historical and ongoing harm of the jewelry industry on indigenous communities and communities of color all around the world. We do not claim to have all of the answers; we are constantly evaluating our practices as we gain a more nuanced understanding of our complex industry. We believe transparency is critical so that you, our clients, can trust that we’ve done all we can to create the most beautiful jewelry - not just the end result, but beautiful at every step of the journey.  The way that we back up these values to ensure that you, our client and collaborator, have as much information available to you as possible is to put our suppliers through thorough vetting processes. We don’t take our suppliers at face value when they say a stone is “ethical” or “sustainable” we push a supplier to give us the whole story about the journey of a stone and if they are not able to back up their claims of “ethics'' with sources or credentials, we won’t work with them. It’s difficult to find suppliers who we trust completely but once we find them, we forge incredible relationships built on our shared values of transparency and doing good. Knowing the story of a gemstone - what we learned! Attending the Gem Shows in Tucson allowed us to make new connections, deepen existing relationships, expand our knowledge, and level up our capacity to offer stunning ethically and sustainably sourced gemstones to all of our clients. We teamed up with some of our like-minded designer friends to tackle critical conversations with suppliers within and beyond the Ethical Gem Fair. Some suppliers were honest about not knowing the origin of their stones. Many suppliers make claims about the origins of their stones, but are vague when pushed to back up these claims, trusting word-of-mouth or their long-standing relationship with one individual towards the end of the supply chain. By asking questions about the origins of traditionally-mined gemstones, we aim to push the industry to consider the human and environmental impact of our trade, proving there is a market for ethically sourced gemstones. We also found a few new suppliers that were able to answer the tough sourcing questions, including one Montana-based miner who sells his own sapphires at the show every year! The best part... what we brought home!   We’re excited to work with our clients to find a special stone that fits your own story, whether that has to do with the geographical source of the stone, a specific color, or one that aligns to your values. Start your custom project with your dream gemstone today!  Enjoy 5% off your first order & be the first to know about new collections, exclusive offers & more!