Greenland Ruby.

Indigenous Greenlanders had always been permitted to hunt, mine and fish according to traditional methods and they have a unique historical and traditional relationship with the ‘Inik Amak‘ meaning the ‘eternal fire’ or ‘the flame that never goes out’. A beautiful way to describe the ruby. However, in the mid 2000’s when the local people became empowered and broke out of the colonial stereo type of using low grade ruby for native ethnic carvings and wanted to cut and polish stones of gem quality value and sell to the world market, the ethnic Danish administration (BMP) broke their own mining laws (section 32 of the previous mineral code) to stop Greenlanders from earning a living.

The fact that we are able to offer our customers Rubies from Greenland, direct from the had of Greenlandic & Inuit people is a testimony to the long arc of justice and the persistence of our friends and their communities to see the resources of their land, benefit the people of the land.

The Benefits of Greenland Ruby.

  1. The stones originate in Greenland
  2. The stones are mined by local Greenlandic citizens and indigenous people.
  3. Stones are cut and polished in Greenland
  4. The Stones are mined in a legal framework that respects ILO conventions on Labour Rights, Forced Labour and Freedom of Association conventions.
  5. Stones are mined in respect to UN Declaration on The Rights of Indigenous People
  6. All stone carry a track and trace number that enables transparency in the trade, purchase and retail sale of Greenland gemstones.
  7. All stone sales are registered with the relevant Greenlandic authority and taxes paid.

A rare source for Valerio customers

Valerio Jewellery is delighted to be able to feature Greenland Ruby in it’s jewellery collections. Mined, cut and polished in Greenland, this AA & AAA ruby source, illustrates the values of justice, ecology, indigenous rights and local community empowerment that Valerio Jewellery holds sacred. Our aim is to use Greenland Ruby exclusively in our collections.

When our customers order ruby jewellery from us each stone is ordered individually and is cut and polished by our friends from the Arctic. There fore it may take a little longer to arrive (we naturally keep you informed) but when you receive it, you know that you are getting a genuinely one off stone for that special occasion.

For those who wish to delve a little deeper into the campaign to Free the Greenland Ruby, that we were involved with can read

Making Trouble – Fighting for Fairtrade Jewellery

There is also a Report we worked on entitled, Creating a Prosperous and Inclusive Gemstone Industry in Greenland. [Download here]Be advised many of the links in the report are no longer working.