How do we source our gemstones?
Nothing makes our heart beats like our colorful gemstone collection; every single one of our stones are naturally created by the Earth and carefully selected by us! But how do we source them? We know that knowing the background of the stones you purchase is important to you and we can assure you that it's even more important to us. Our gems will always be ethically and carefully sourced!
We have a unique collaboration with the best gemstone sourcing specialists in Sweden. Their focus is to source our gems directly from the regions of origin and they are regularly traveling and buying rough gemstones from areas where they have personal connections or knowledge of the local conditions. They work with carefully selected, family-run gemstone cutting workshops and are always happy to share with us where and how the mining and cutting happens. This is why we proudly can tell you the origin of almost every gemstone in our selection.
This also means that our supply varies a lot more than bigger jewelry makers - Most gemstone suppliers sources their goods from major lapidaries and are more concerned with consistency and color calibration than traceability. They usually look for and produce hundreds and hundreds of similar-looking gemstones at the same time. We on the other hand, worship the traceability and uniqueness of each gem. Our gemstone sourcing goes one step closer to the original source and this is why most of our gems comes in limited supply!
You may draw a vague comparison between visiting a local farmer’s market instead of a supermarket: if none of the farmers at the market have grown zucchini this year - or it’s simply out of season in this region – it won’t be available. A supermarket chain, like many of the large-scale gemstone cutters, will mix supplies from so many regions that it will always be able to have goods in stock. However, dealing with so many origins, it will be more difficult for large-scale operations to keep track of details and conditions (ethically and quality) within each supply line.
For example, sometimes we may have a wide selection of peachy sapphires to offer; then in the next month we may have none at all - until our gemstone sourcing partner finds a new handful of gems to offer us. This is why almost every Caroline Hjerpe gemstone is unique (maybe you have already noticed that two gemstones in our collections rarely look exactly the same?). This is also a good reason to never wait too long when you find a piece of jewelry with a gemstone that truly resonates with you. If it sells, we can never guarantee that something similar could be arranged again!
Our gemstoe sourcing partners love to share their knowledge, not only with us but also the other way around. Sharing knowledge from consumers to the regions where mining and cutting happens is just as important. They have for example, taught quality-grading to miners in Tanzania and held a workshop in Sri Lanka (invited by the government) to explain the workings of the Western markets to gemstone cutters all over the country, so that the local workshops could better adjust and thrive.
Whenever our sourcing specialists receive a new batch of gorgeous gemstones from a certain origin, we sit down with them to admire the sparkle, grab a coffee, then pick the stones that we love for our customers – you! This is why we are so eager and proud to show you our gemstone collection. Each gemstone we select is unique, traceable, and sourced with deep knowledge - And of course, LOVED by us!
