Where My Gold Comes From--The Fairmined Story
I did not begin my work in the jewelry studio thinking I would need to understand global mining practices. That awareness came unexpectedly, year later, during travel in Peru’s Madre de Dios region — a place of extraordinary rainforest biodiversity. There I saw a hydraulic gold mining rig operating directly in a river where children were playing nearby. I later learned mercury was commonly used in the process and released back into the water with devastating consequences for humans, wildlife and the environment. That moment quietly changed the direction of my studio.
Looking More Closely at Sourcing
For many years jewelry designers, myself included, relied on "recycled gold" believing it avoided mining harm. With deeper research I discovered recycled metal carries no origin information. Metals from many sources are melted together, making environmental and labor conditions unknowable. My earlier career as an attorney taught me to look past reassuring language and examine the evidence. If the source could not be known, the impact could not be known either. I began searching for a material whose origin story could be verified.
The First Change: Engaging at the Source
Responsible gold begins at the source itself. The source may be a river, a waterway serving multiple stakeholders including fish, rainforest and drinking water. The Amazon River Basin has become a threatened habitat with global implications for atmospheric carbon capture, all because of mercury used in gold mining. The non-profit organizations Pure Earth and Fairmined are working directly with local communities to reduce and eliminate the use of toxic mercury in gold seeking.
Learning Safer Methods
Pure Earth and Fairmined work directly with artisanal miners, teaching mercury‑free techniques that protect both health and livelihood. These programs help families reduce toxic exposure while often improving gold recovery — showing safer practices can also be practical ones. Knowledge shared locally is the first step toward restoring both communities and landscapes.
Reclaiming the Land
Mercury contaminates the soil and turns pristine rainforest into moonscape. Pure Earth works directly with miners to safely close out old mining sites and rehabilitate degraded ecosystems. Through reforestation and other techniques, Pure Earth restores degraded mining concessions to reduce legacy mercury contamination that poisons communities and the environment.
The Next Step: Verification and Trust
The gold must remain accountable after it leaves the ground and when it heads to the market. Mercury free gold must not be mixed with tainted gold after leaving the source. Fairmined certification provides that assurance. It is an independently audited system verifying environmental protection, working conditions, and full traceability through the supply chain. Certified miners receive a fair price and a community premium invested in schools, safety, and long‑term stability.
From Community to Studio
This gold arrives at my workshop not as an anonymous commodity, but as material with a known origin. Mercury free. Caring already built in. I then work with this beautiful gold to fabricate each piece by hand in my Santa Monica studio. My work has always focused on creating durable, wearable pieces meant to live with a person over time — a philosophy of buying less, choosing carefully, and keeping meaning close. I became a Fairmined licensed jeweler so I could know exactly where the gold I use comes from — and so you can know as well.
Why This Matters
Gold has connected people across continents for thousands of years. Today we are fortunate have the unusual ability to shape not only the object, but the path it travels before reaching us. Each piece made from Fairmined gold is, to me, a voice and a vote: for safer working conditions, for communities to benefit from their resources, and for landscapes to be recovered rather than be exploited and then abandoned. When you wear a piece, you bring your voice to that effort. The Fairmined Americas Collection exists to make those caring connections visible in the real world and share that story of possibility.
Explore the Collection
Explore the pieces created from this gold--gold to be proud of. Each one carries a story of thoughtfulness and caring, a story you will continue to tell with each wearing.