While those in-the-know in our industry are familiar with Fairmined, in an effort to get the word out about their feel-good gold to a wider audience, Fairmined launched the Fairmined 100 Challenge. Inviting brands and designers to launch 100 collections made of Fairmined gold, silver or gold plating from September of 2021 to August of 2022, the organization announced last week that they had topped all of their expectations and are presenting 127 collections by 97 brands.

“The commemoration of creativity and commitment to supporting the positive transformation of the artisanal and small-scale mining communities brought together Fairmined licensed brands, authorized suppliers, certified mining organizations, retailers, promoters and allies to achieve and exceed the initial goal to launch 100 collections,” said Laura Galvis, Market Development Specialist at the Alliance for Responsible Mining.

In the coming days, the collections will all be presented together in a digital catalogue. In addition to being eligible to receive the “Public’s Favorite” distinction, an all-female panel of judges will be selecting the best collections among the seven categories and the winners of these categories, as well as the “Public’s Favorite,” will be unveiled on October 11^th during an ARM-hosted webinar.

We caught up with two of the designers who participated in the challenge, Ashely Thorne of A.M. Thorne and Zulaikha Aziz of Mazahri, both of whom exhibited in The Radiance by COUTURE salon at our 2022 event, to get some insight into why using Fairmined gold is so meaningful to them, and how they approached this particular design challenge.

“As a brand that cares deeply about our impact on people and the planet, Mazahri is proud to use only Fairmined gold in all our pieces including our new Origins capsule collection—our entry in this year’s Fairmined 100 Challenge,” Aziz explains. “Origins explores Mazahri’s own origin story as a brand inspired by ancient Afghan design and our commitment to responsible creation and impact. Origins is made of 18k Fairmined gold, De Beers diamonds with Code of Origin, and responsibly sourced lapis lazuli helping to generate positive impact among artisanal and small scale miners and mining communities as well as promoting increased traceability and transparency within gold, diamond and gemstone mining in line with the purpose of the Fairmined 100 Challenge. It is such an honor to work with Fairmined gold and know that our use of this responsibly sourced gold is helping improve the lives of miners around the world!”

“The Pure collection symbolizes a step towards a conversational direction for A.M. Thorne where we share the stories behind our gemstones and gold,” Thorne said. “Our mission is to work with suppliers that have a secure and transparent route to market for artisanal and small-scale mining. A.M. Thorne believes people should see the benefits from the natural resources of their own land. The Fairmined 100 Challenge allows us to bring attention to the impact gold can provide to artisanal small-scale miners and their communities. Working in higher karat 22k gold feels like the best way to honor the material for its allure and value. Each piece in this collection is intentionally simple, bold, timeless and will only become better with age.”

A link to the soon-to-be-launched digital catalogue showcasing all 127 collections, which also includes COUTURE designer Tabayer, can be found here.