Our Nyala Rubies



Malawi Facts


Our Nyala rubies are sourced from Columbia Gemhouse (CGH) an active pioneer in the fair trade gem market. Columbia works with complete mine to market custody and enhancement disclosures for the Nyala Ruby.

Our Nyala Rubies 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 Nyala Ruby.

Unlike many commercially mined rubies, the Nyala Ruby 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. each piece is unique unto itself.


At the Mine

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

  • Impact from mine areas is minimized and fully reclaimed.

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

  • There are bonuses and promotion.

  • There is also health insurance.


    • The Nyala Mining Site (Courtesy JCK Online)


















    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.

  • Workers are given free room and board and a food allowance.

  • Workers are given paid vacation.

  • There is overtime pay.

  • There is disability and unemployment insurance available.

  • Workers receive an annual bonus.

  • In addition, CGH has built a school that has an enrollment of 450 at the location of one of their mines.



    • The Myth and Lore of Rubies


    July's Birthstone




    Offer a large ruby to the Hindu deity, Krisna, the eternal child, and you will be reincarnated as an emperor. Offer a smaller ruby and in the next life, you'll be merely a king. If you believe that existence is not cyclical and have figured out who you were before you were born, the thirteenth century physician Naharari of Kashmire has more practical advice: rubies are a cure for flatulence. (Kuntz 186) An ancient Hindu legion tells of a great serpent that laid three eggs-two of which were great rulers and the third, the ruby mines of Burma. (Kuntz 185) In another myth, the demon, Vala, was conquered and dismembered by the gods in the Hindu pantheon. The blood dropped to the earth, forming a deep pool. On the banks of these pools one can find corundum and from one of these pools flows the most sacred river in India, the Ganga.

    Corundum is a classification of gemstones that come in virtually every color. Those that are red to reddish purple are considered rubies. Read More...