Gemfields recently partnered with the Gübelin Gem Lab to embed nanoparticles proving origin in all emeralds for sale at the auction in Lusaka, Zambia, from May 15th- 18th 2018, to drive greater levels of transparency in the coloured gemstone sector.
Brands and their customers are becoming increasingly aware of the need to know the origin of their products, including raw materials, in order to reduce the human and environmental impacts in their supply chains and ensure certainty over the origin or provenance of their goods. This includes, but is not limited to, where the raw materials come from, how they are processed and manufactured into the final product. The coloured gemstone sector has no system, globally at scale that allows gemstones to be confidently traced from mine to market because the sector is ancient, largely artisanal and gemstone trading is still often very secretive. There is a lot of ‘mixing’ of stones from different sources during the production processes. Gemfields aims to bring greater transparency to the sector and is actively seeking solutions. Gübelin Gem Lab’s solution allows a brand or consumer to physically check the origin of a gemstone by using a synthetic DNA ‘nanotechnology’.
The technology is owned by the Gübelin Gem Lab and is part of a service they have termed ‘Provenance Proof’. Gübelin Gem Lab creates a synthetic nanotechnology code containing key information about the origins, or provenance, of the rough gemstones, such as the miner, the mine location and the date the gemstones were mined. This means that each set of nanotechnology code is unique to that miner, mine location and date. Gübelin Gem Lab takes rough gemstones such as emeralds from Gemfields’ Kagem mine in Zambia, and immerses them in a liquid containing the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles embed themselves in the natural fissures in the gemstone, known as ‘inclusions’ in the industry, so that they can’t be removed, except by Gübelin Gem Lab. The nanoparticles do not have any effect on the quality of the gemstone, or once manufactured, the cut and polished gemstone, thereby maintaining the integrity of the gemstones.
When a customer or brand wishes to verify whether a gemstone contains the nanotechnology in order to guarantee the gemstone’s origin, then they are examined by Gübelin Gem Lab and the code contained in the gemstone can be verified against the data held securely by them, revealing the miner, mine location and date the gemstone was mined. This technology offers miners (both big corporates and co-operatives of small and artisanal miners), governments, trade organisations, industry watchdogs, jewellery brands and final customers a completely new level of transparency when sourcing emeralds, instilling confidence and creating trust.