The Clarity Project is a fair jewelry social enterprise started by Shane Rogers, Rachel Lichte, and Jesse Finfrok. We sell beautiful, fairly sourced diamond engagement rings and invest our profits with NGOs that are working in mining communities. 

 

 

Our ideal answer to that question is with a question... "Who doesn't?" We're always looking for dynamic designs — both new takes on classics and boundary-pushing custom pieces. So far we've worked with local designer Chuck Nash and dear friend John Doty to bring our ideas to life. We're excited to keep growing our collection, piece by piece, and we'd love to work with you on your design too.

 

 

We use all recycled, reclaimed metals from Hoover & Strong, a century-old company with a serious environmental outlook. Scraps are re-melted, wastewater is strictly controlled and treated (not discharged), and exhaust is scrubbed prior to being released into the environment. We are also looking closely at new opportunities for reclaimed metals from South African fair-made manufacturer Vukani-Ubuntu and Fair Trade Certified Gold from Oro Verde.

 

 

We currently sell stones from a women's mining co-operative in Lesotho, and the PRIDE mine in Sierra Leone. We are exploring new diamond opportunities in South Africa and Namibia, as well as fledgling projects in Brazil. All of our diamonds can be traced back to their mine.

 

The supply of fair diamonds is small — and that's changing thankfully — but we are committed to finding the best stones out there. Unfortunately, there's nothing perfect yet. Give us a call though, we're always happy to chat about our latest research and thinking.

 

 

There is no such thing as Fair Trade Certified diamonds — yet! — but we do everything possible to ensure that our diamonds come from the fairest mines around. We purchase our stones from small scale projects, which we vet heavily, including on-site visits, to confirm that we are purchasing stones that keep the miners top of mind. That said, while we do everything we can promote the progress of these projects, there's always room for improvement.

 

 

Our mission is to improve the lives of the miners who have been marginalized for so long. As part of this, we buy stones from responsible mines and use the profits from rings sales to fund critical projects in mining communities. We are a small organization with big ideas, but only so many resources.

 

We are starting to work in Africa and South America because they have the most notorious histories with diamonds on a community level. Avoiding these countries because of their histories means avoiding the miners — even those innovative little co-ops that are doing socially and environmentally good work. For many people and communities, mining is the only livelihood option. And we want to support those that are changing the system from within.

 

There are challenges with this, for sure. It’s definitely not the only or the most convenient stance to take. It takes a lot of work and time to find those small co-ops. And because The Clarity Project works with only a few, small-scale mines, it can be difficult to find that perfect stone that many people dream about. For us, and our potential customers, this can be a hard truth to face while other jewelry companies advertise that “perfect” stone rather effortlessly. 

 

 

We view ourselves as a mission driven entity and act in many ways like a non-profit organization. Our difference? We see business and direct value exchange as an intrinsic piece of creating fair trade stones and supporting small scale mining efforts. It only makes sense to us that the industry that has created such pains for so long would also be a part of a solution.

 

Our ideal state would be to source stones directly from a small scale mine and invest our profits back into that same community. It's a journey though, we're not quite there yet but we're on our way. And for the time being, we're working with some impressive organizations whose work aligns very closely with our mission.

 

We manufacture some rings locally and also use the expertise of metal partner Hoover and Strong and South African fair-made manufacturer Vukani-Ubuntu.

 

Currently we do not have a separate giving entity, we offer grants back to a number of different non-profit organization partners. We will track the impact of these donations over time. Check out our impressive partner Shine on Sierra Leone.

 

 

We like talking to our customers. Sure, ordering online is the way of things these days. But, diamonds make for interesting conversation, and the folks who call us often have a lot of questions. With a new site and many product variations, we've found it best to talk through these questions over the phone. You can always feel free to send us an email or give us a call with questions. (You can even tell us to stop talking about all the details if we're getting carried away...we get it!)