Conflict-Free Diamonds & Ethically Sourced Materials
As Sausalito Jewelers, we have been committed to ethical sourcing to the highest degree. We are passionate about supporting and maintaining ethical, transparent, and empowering practices. It is important to us to bring awareness to some of the seriously troubling practices that have plagued our industry. From conflict diamonds to gold mined by child labor, there is a lot to be aware of before you purchase. Through our pursuit of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible jewelry, we continue to make positive changes:
- We are proud partners with Forevermark Diamonds. Less than 1% of the world’s diamonds meet Forevermark’s standards of beauty and rarity. And each superb, hand selected diamond is responsibly sourced from a mine that demonstrates its benefits to both the community and country from which it came. Forevermark traces each step of a diamond’s journey to ensure strict business, environmental and social standards are met. Forevermark’s workforce is made up of 70% women. This empowers a population that has historically suffered in the jewelry industry. Sausalito Jewelers is proud to stand with Forevermark, its mission, its employees, and with women everywhere.
- We offer certified Fairmined gold. Not all gold is created equally. Earthworks describes gold mining as “one of the most destructive industries in the world.” Fairmined gold is ethical gold extracted by artisanal and small-scale miners certified under the Fairmined standard. Buying Fairmined metals supports responsible, certified miners and their families who follow strict requirements for environmental protection, labor conditions, social development, and economic development in their mining communities. Sausalito Jewelers is proud to offer Fairmined gold because we want you to be proud of the gold you wear.
- We are partners of the Mercury Free Mining Challenge. According to the United Nations Environment Program, artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM) is responsible for over 700 tons of mercury emissions released into the atmosphere and an additional 800 tons into land and water per year. Methylmercury is a highly potent neurotoxin that harms the health of both people and wildlife. However, its use has been crucial to ASGM operations for hundreds of years, allowing workers to isolate gold in their mining process, but harming their bodies and the environment in the process. The Mercury Free Mining Challenge aims to reverse that by encouraging studies and research in the fields of material sciences, synthetic biology, and technology to discover a mercury alternative that is safe and effective for ASGM.
- We are proud members of Ethical Metalsmiths. Ethical Metalsmiths is an organization dedicated to informing jewelers and consumers about responsible mining, sustainable economic development, and supply chain transparency. Its vision is a world in which people can create and enjoy jewelry made with materials from responsible sources that respect and protect the earth, its peoples, and cultures. By raising awareness, evaluating and developing alternatives to troubling practices, and promoting individual advocacy, jewelers and consumers are supporting a real change in the industry.
These are just a few of the ways we are making positive changes in the industry. We are happy to discuss more of these in detail with you at any time. Each piece we make is ethically sourced, expertly made, and of the highest quality. We hope you’ll share our concern, passion, and commitment to jewelry you can truly be proud of.