Our Malawi Sapphires



Malawi Facts


Our Malawi sapphires are sourced from Columbia Gemhouse a true pioneer in the fair trade gem marketplace.

Columbia Gem House, Inc. has exclusive agreements with many mines around the world, including the mine in Southern Malawi that produces the Malawi Sapphire.

Unlike many commercially mined sapphires, the Malawi Sapphire is natural and untreated which means it has not been artificially heated or irradiated. What you get is the color of stone right as it came from the mine.


At the Mine

  • Columbia Gemhouse works with complete mine to market custody and enhancement disclosures.

  • Streams zones around the mine are protected and all water sources are safeguarded.

  • Impact from mine areas is minimized and fully reclaimed.

  • A school has been built in mining areas that has 450 children enrolled.

  • Fair compensation is paid to miners above the minimum wage.

  • there are bonuses and promotion.

  • There is health insurance available.


    • The Mining Site in Malawi (Courtesy JCK)


















    At the Polishing Factory

  • Stones are cut in China where Columbia Gem House helped establish a new gem cutting factory in Shenzen, to cut and polish rough gemstones. They developed their own cutting facility to meet specific customer demand and to raise the level of cutting standards to the highest in the industry. This factory Pays three times the standard wages.

  • Free room and board and a food allowance.

  • Paid vacation.

  • Overtime pay.

  • Disability and unemployment insurance.

  • And an annual bonus.



    • The Myth and Lore of Sapphire


    September's Birthstone




    An old Vedic story describes the demon god, Vela, ripped apart by demigods. Vela's body tumbled down to the earth. When he hit his skin shattered into yellow sapphires that scattered like mystic seeds throughout the Himalayas. Vela's eyes became shards of divine energy, the seeds of blue sapphires. These tumbled to Sri Lanka and other areas of Southeast Asia-areas even today where sapphires are mined.

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