Values, Vision and Commitments
Did you know that more than 50% of the colored gemstones world-wide come from artisanal and small-scale miners? Gemstone mining provides a crucial livelihood for thousands of families, including in some of the poorest countries of the world. Unfortunately, the vast majority of gemstones from source countries are exported "rough" and this represents an enormous loss in potential value for source communities (additional reading: A Rough Cut Trade (Hunter and Lawson, 2020).
DanZo is helping to address this by connecting jewelers directly with highly skilled faceters in "source-regions", and by re-investing a portion of our revenue in support of our upstream counterparts: our faceters, and also the mining communities where the stones come from. It is important to us at DanZo that we are not doing "charity". Rather, our philosophy and strategy is to create long-term value through trust, talent development, and insistence on excellence. DanZo collects chain of custody information which is shared with customers for each and every stone, by way of gemological reports by our accredited gemologists. We pay export royalties when exporting cut stones, a practice which remains rare in international gem trade.
Our vision is to develop a gemstone supply chain where our customers get value not only from knowing the origin of their gemstones but more importantly they get value from helping strengthen supply chain partners near the source. We see this as investment in the individuals and communities who are responsible for mining and faceting each stone. For us, this is the beating heart of ethical sourcing.
1. Assurance of Provenance
DanZo works only with "mine-to-market" traders and lapidaries, in trusted partnership which ensure accurate provenance information is recorded for each stone in our inventory.
Commitments to our customers
2. World-class lapidary craftsmanship
We are future focused. We provide opportunities for faceter training and skill development (upskilling/refinement), and better tools/supplies.
DanZo's community development investments in remote mining communes focus on education, childcare & worker safety.
3. Community benefits: focus on education, childcare and safety
For discerning jewelers and clients, the provenance of a piece is no longer an optional "nice-to-know" but instead provides critical information of a stone’s origin and thus its authenticity and integrity. Gemstones with documented provenance tell a story of place, and ideally they tell a story of people and their craft, and of stewardship.
DanZo works exclusively with partners who share our commitment to document each stone's journey: from the mine sites to the hands of rough buyers, to the ateliers where stones are cut and polished, and finally to the point of certification and export. Each DanZo stone is accompanied with a gemological certificate which documents this chain of custody, as well as the gemological characteristics (report) by certified gemologists.
Assurance of Provenance
Some important definitions: Provenance refers to the documented history of a gemstone detailing its geological origin (i.e. the mine site), as well as its chain of custody, including any transformations it may have undergone (e.g. cutting and polishing), before getting to you. Traceability is the term which describes the system used to document provenance and chain-of-custody.
At the heart of each gemstone are the eyes and hands of a skilled faceter. DanZo collaborates with faceters who work close to the source material, and who bring local knowledge and tradition to the stones they shape and polish. To elevate their work, DanZo provides training and skills development, as well as support for tool upgrades and maintenance, and access to the premium supplies such as laps and polishing powders. Support services include quality control visits to assure that their work can meet our faceting standard. When you purchase a DanZo gemstone, you are supporting the professional growth of our faceter partners. By developing excellence where the "upsteam" work happens, we build lasting value in communities and countries of origin.
Investing in Lapidary Excellence
The DanZo team have extensive experience in rural development work, and we generally understand the challenges faced by ASM communities, and supply chain partners. Several of these challenges are often interpreted as supply chain "risks" for potential international customers (e.g. refer to the case where children may have been involved in mining work). There are no simple fixes to the plethora of challenges associated with poverty. There is a critical need for education in rural areas, as well as safe access to water and nutrition. We believe that gemstone and gold supply arrangements can lead to long-lasting and transformative direct benefits to local communities. DanZo has developed a 3 year plan to focus community efforts on 2 priorities, with select ASM community (commune) partners: (1) worker safety; and (2) support for improvements to education facilities and supplies. DanZo's local development fund is constituted from 5% of our projected profits. DanZo is not just making donations with this effort but rather is directing and managing related disbursements and activities with local partners. Contact us to learn more or get involved, and stay tuned to our socials (coming soon) for updates.