• What are Gübelin Jewellery's criteria for sourcing precious stones and metals?
• How does Gübelin Jewellery choose its suppliers? How can Gübelin Jewellery make sure that gemstones are ethically sourced?
• How does Gübelin Jewellery know where its gemstones come from?
• Does Gübelin Jewellery sell jewellery with Burmese gemstones?
• What is the Responsible Jewellery Council? Why did Gübelin Jewellery join?
• What is Provenance Proof?
• Does Gübelin Jewellery operate its own mines?

• What are Gübelin Jewellery's criteria for sourcing precious stones and metals?

All of our materials meet at least the industry rules and regulations. But we want to go further. Gübelin Jewellery has a strict supplier Code of Conduct signed by all of our gemstone and precious metal suppliers, supporting transparency and ethical business practices. We expect them to adhere to it, and if we find out that they violate it, we have the right to support them in changing their business practices or suspending and/or terminating our business relationships. We also have the right to conduct audits/inspection. We do not knowingly do business with anyone who is not practicing responsible sourcing.

• How does Gübelin Jewellery choose its suppliers? How can Gübelin Jewellery make sure that gemstones are ethically sourced?

We work with suppliers that we know and trust and with whom we maintain long standing business relationships. We conduct on-going Due Diligence with our long term suppliers as well as on site audits and inspections where necessary.

All new suppliers must sign our Supplier Code of Conduct and we thoroughly conduct Due Diligence and Know Your Counterparty Procedures in order for them to qualify as a business partner.

Gübelin Jewellery also regularly assesses the political, economic and social conditions in the primary countries from where our gemstones are sourced, we investigate any violation of our Supplier Code of Conduct that we are aware of and we have the right to inspect any of the locations where Gübelin Jewellery’s components are being sourced, cut, polished or mined.

• How does Gübelin Jewellery know where its gemstones come from?

We trust and have long standing relationships with our gemstone suppliers - we know they honour truth and transparency as we do. As most of our gemstones come with a Gemmological Report from the Gübelin Gem Lab, we are able to identify and subsequently certify the origins of most of our coloured gemstones.

• Does Gübelin Jewellery sell jewellery with Burmese gemstones?

Gübelin Jewellery has a long history with the artisanal mining community in Myanmar and we have made several trips there over the decades. We never want to abandon those communities as we have seen first-hand that they depend on the gemstone trade for their livelihoods. However, regarding the events in February 2021, we have suspended purchasing gemstones exported from Burma (Myanmar) since then. We currently have Burmese gemstones in our collections that were exported prior to February 2021.

• What is the Responsible Jewellery Council? Why did Gübelin Jewellery join?

The RJC (Responsible Jewellery Council) is the world’s leading ethical standard setting organisation for the jewellery and watch industry. The organization works to create a globally sustainable future for the jewellery and watch industry. Gübelin Jewellery joined the RJC in 2019 because we want to promote and adhere to transparent and ethical sourcing initiatives throughout the industry. We are striving to create change in the jewellery supply chain and we feel it is our responsibility to take action by joining the RJC and following their Code of Practices. 

• What is Provenance Proof?

Transparency is key when it comes to Ethical & Responsible Business Initiatives. In 2017, Gübelin launched Provenance Proof to enable more transparency in the gemstone and jewellery trade. Meanwhile, Provenance Proof offers two innovative technologies: The Emerald Paternity Test, which uses nanolabels to trace emeralds back to the exact mine, and the Provenance Proof Block Chain, the first digital ledger for coloured gemstones, make up part of the Provenance Proof initiative. These technologies and services are designed and available for every stakeholder in the industry who embraces transparency, from miners to end consumers.

We have always striven for a deeper understanding of our metier. The roots of the Gübelin Gem Lab reach back to 1923. In order to learn more about gemstones and examine and determine their authenticity gems, we set up the gemmological laboratory almost 100 years ago.

• Does Gübelin Jewellery operate its own mines?

We do not own or operate mines. Mining is a totally different business and an industry of its own. Our experience is in selecting the best gems and creating jewellery, not in mining them.