Amethyst, Zambia

I met the founder of Virtu Gems years before the company existed.  I watched it launch and was proud to partner with them in December 2020 on a virtual workshop in Malawi.  It was a privilege and a valuable learning experience to introduced a group of Mawali female miners to the healing crystal industry.

After the workshop I attempted to buy some gems.  Rather than starting with the miners in Malawi, we decided to experiment by setting up a supply chain for Amethyst from a female miner in Zambia.  It was an experiment for everyone and a complete failure. C’est le vie.

In 2022, we met up again at a conference for responsibly sourced jewelry.  During the lunch hour I was in the buffet line and the food was unfamiliar to the African woman next to me.  We began to chat and when I saw her sit down at a table alone, I asked if I could join her.  During our meal, I complimented her Amethyst bracelets and she said she mined them.  I stared at her for a moment and then asked if she was the miner that I had tried to do business with the year before.  She was the miner.  I asked if she could supply bracelets just like the ones she was wearing.  She could and would be happy to do so.  We promised to do business.  It started well, but once again, various problems emerged and it was a failure.  C’est le vie.

In 2023, we returned to the conference.  She was the first person I saw and we started to laugh.  We swore that before the conference ended, we would make a business deal happen.  We were successful in the sense that we agreed upon an order and I transferred funds.  New problems emerged.  In the spring of 2024, we are still working through them.  I don’t have most of my bracelets yet, but I will have them soon.  In the meantime, I’m delighted to share tumbled Amethyst from her mine.

This is how real life works sometimes.  Building responsible miner-to-market supply chains is not quick or easy.  But I believe it is worth it.