Zavida's blogging adventure begins!

This is Zavida Gemstones' first foray into the online world of blogging, and we couldn't be more excited! In fact, this is MY first foray into the online world of blogging, too. My name is Brenna and I am part of the Zavida Gemstones team! I have been lucky enough to have been chosen as one of the small handful of people who will be utilizing this blog to share the Zavida Gemstones world with our fans, friends, customers, and other likeminded people.

If you are interested in jewelry, geology (and the formation of gemstones!), traveling, fair trade, sustainability, culture (both local and foreign!), fun and exotic recipes, travel photography, community development, or making the world a better place one step at a time, then we have something to offer you. Stay tuned for all of this and more.

And now, a little about us! If you haven't heard of Zavida Gemstones, it is a young jewelry business hailing from Vashon Island, Washington, that promotes sustainable jewelry; that is to say, we believe that jewelry companies should not bully miners and artisans to acquire precious and semiprecious gems and metals, but rather, the companies and artisans should have a mutually fulfilling relationship. Zavida runs on a business model based on the idea that what is good for people is good for business, and what is good for business can, and should, be good for people. We buy jewelry and jewelry materials at fair market price from the artisans and miners, and additionally, we give back 25% of our profits to a community of artisans in India who lost everything in an earthquake--this money helps them to revive the ancient trade of silversmiths. This is the Zavida Silversmith Project, and you can find out more about it on our project website by clicking here. However, Zavida jewelry is not just from India! We have jewelry from artisans all across the world, and our goal is to one day have at least one project on every continent from which our jewelry originates.

In a sentence, "when you buy a Zavida piece, you are not only buying something beautiful for yourself or a loved one, you are making a small but significant contribution to global health and happiness."

In our next post or two, I hope to share some stunning wedding photos from a Zavida customer who outfitted her entire bridal party in Zavida pieces...