Frequently crystal businesses unwilling to change defend their inaction by claiming that there are no universally accepted criteria for ethical sourcing and production in the stone and crystal industry. While it is true that there are sadly no independant third-party certification services like in other industries, it is nothing but a lame excuse to state the meaning of being “ethical” would be “unclear”.

All businesses associated with the Gemrock Group operate under a clearly defined set of ethical and sustainable criteria which are common sense and globally accepted moral and ethical standards in any society or belief system:

Ethical Mining guidelines (applied to all the gold, silver, stones, or crystals we source):

• No sourcing from civil war regions with a high likelyhood of mining financially supporting war, genocide, or any type of human rights violations (Like for example any type of crystal or precious stone from Myanmar).

• No sourcing from regions dominated by druglords or mafias (like for example Amazonite from the Peruvian VRAE Region, or emeralds from Colombia)

• No sourcing from regions with oppressive regimes (for example the Taliban in Afghanistan, financed by Lapis Lazuli trade)

• No sourcing from mining operations that destroy critical natural habitats or protected areas (for example gold mining in the Peruvian rainforest)

• No sourcing from mining areas known for child labor (For example Madagascar)

• No sourcing from illegal mining or shadow business mining.

• No sourcing with cash-payments (a clear sign for illegal activities or shadow business)

Ethical production guidelines:

• No sourcing of products from shadow businesses (non-tax paying, non-registered, illegal businesses that require cash payments and hire their staff without legal working contracts and without paying labor benefits, exposing them to unfair salaries and dangerous labor conditions)

• All our products are sourced from vetted providers or made in-house.

• All our employees work under legal labor contracts, enjoy paid vacations, health insurance, life insurance, retirement funds, safe work places, higher than average salaries, career opportunities via professional training, financial stimulus for top-quality production, and have a share in the companies profits.

Environmental protection:

• We save water and energy wherever possible

• We reduce waste by recycling, reusing, and improving our production process.

• We measure our carbon footprint and neutralize it via reforestation projects.

Consumer protection:

• All of our items are 100% natural and have never been lab-created, heat-treated, irradiated, or otherwise artificially altered.

• All our gold and silver is free of Cadmium, Lead, or other contaminants and toxic substances that are widely used in the industry to reduce the raw material cost and increase the profits, not caring about the customers health.

Gemrock and Beyond Bohemian will always be transparent about the origins of our products and we will never carry anything that has documented environmental or social harms.

This selective curation of products sometimes limits or excludes certain items from ever becoming a part of the inventory at Gemrock and Beyond Bohemian despite high demand.

Gemrock and Beyond Bohemian build global relationships with mines, artisans, and jewelers who use their businesses in ethical ways to help and support others in their communities through job creation, improving local infrastructure, and environmental preservation. We are all people who enjoy and love what we do and want to inspire positive changes around us to make the world a better place.