Greenland Ruby Finalizes Traceability Program

The miner also has rolled out color range sample sets of its Greenlandic gems.

Brecken Branstrator brecken.branstrator@nationaljeweler.com

Greenland Ruby has launched a mine-to-market traceability program in which each gem that comes from Aappaluttoq is assigned a number and comes with a certificate of origin.

Tucson, Ariz.—Greenland Ruby, the company currently mining ruby and pink sapphire on the ice-covered island, has rolled out a mine-to-market traceability program for its gems.

Launched in Tucson amid the annual gem shows, the program has been endorsed by the government of Greenland and is made possible through the miner’s customized inventory system with Carats.Online.

Each parcel of the company’s rough is given a number, and all gems produced from that parcel are assigned their own individual number linked to the parent parcel. These numbers stay with each gem throughout heat treatment, cutting and setting.

At the end, each stone has its own unique number that helps identify it with its description (color, weight, dimensions) and a certificate of origin is produced.

Greenland Ruby Vice President of Sales and Marketing Hayley Henning told National Jeweler that all material is accounted for by parcel weight starting the moment it’s moved from the mine, through processing, sorting, export and onward. This happens as part of the miner’s inventory control system and is monitored closely by the company as well as by Greenland’s Ministry of Natural Resources.

When a consumer purchases a piece set with Greenlandic gems, she or he is given the certificate to prove provenance.

“Though Greenland Ruby’s jewelry clients to date have only requested certificates on gems over 1 carat for their customers, Greenland Ruby has the ability to produce a tracking number for every stone, if a brand wished to do so,” Henning said.

“The gems do not need individual markings, since a variety of gemological laboratories around the world, including the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, the Gemological Institute of America, the Gübelin Gem Lab and Lotus Gemology, have examined our material and determined that Greenlandic corundum is readily identifiable as originating on the island.”

Greenland Ruby has sorted its material into quality levels to create color spectrums that allow customers to order material consistently. Pictured here are the color levels identified within the Transparent and Translucent quality levels.

Also in Tucson, the company displayed its final color range sample sets of gems. These color spectrums will be used for customers who would like to select material consistently, Henning said, allowing them to refer to the color spectrum and order according to needs.

Greenland Ruby offers transparent, translucent and opaque cabochon stones that weigh up to 50 carats, easily calibrated for jewelry collections.

The miner said cabochons are often the preferred method of shaping the gems because of the nature of the material, but the company also offers faceted stones, ranging from melee sizes up to more than 1 carat.

Greenland Ruby has sorted its calibrated cabochon material into three different quality levels: transparent, translucent and opaque, Henning said. Within these three categories, various color levels have been identified.

There are six colors in the Transparent and Translucent categories: T1 to T6, with T1 starting at a deep red and moving through to hot pinks, light and icy pinks, and whites. Within the opaque spectrum, there are nine categories: O1 to O9.

Henning said the company is also finding some blue, purple and gray material in this category, which, she added, is highly unusual for a ruby mine.

RELATED CONTENT: The First Full Collection Using Greenland Gems Is Coming

Greenland Ruby representatives said in 2019, they plan to expand in the American market.

“Our team plans wider introduction of our beautiful products in the U.S. this year, after successful debuts in Europe, and among select luxury designers,” Greenland Ruby CEO Magnus Kibsgaard said. “We’ve noted the exploding interest in responsibly sourced products in America, and we feel our gems are perfectly positioned to take advantage of that trend. The modern consumer is demanding fair manufactured goods with a story of doing well by doing good.”

The miner’s Pink Polar Bear Foundation also will continue its work this year to support international polar research in all disciplines, especially protecting the inhabitants—human and animal—of Greenland affected by climate change and accompanying cultural changes.

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Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.

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