Design Experience
An inspiring design experience at the origin of the richest gold in the world
In the dense jungle of the Colombian Chocó biogeographic region, between the giant Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean, the rivers are the heart that gives life to this rich ecosystem, one of the most biodiverse on our planet. On its banks, hundreds of Afro women work daily for hours, looking for small flakes of pure gold that they delicately collect in their wooden pans. They are the guardians of a centuries-old legacy known as “gold panning,” a sustainable ancestral mining practice they learned from generations of their ancestors, enslaved freedmen of the Spanish Colony.
In one of my recent trips, I was lucky enough to get to know a bit of this magical region and its warm people. During my visit to Tumaco, located in the south of the Chocó biogeographic region, I was able to share with some women miners and also with master jewelers from this Afro community. In my conversations with the miners and the jewelers, I could see how the culture that flourished in this region has been determined by gold and also has in artisanal jewelry one of its most beautiful and powerful expressions. I learned that for centuries, gold has gone directly from the river to jewelers´ benches. Also, that jewelry is a way to celebrate the small rituals of life.
I understood that artisanal alluvial gold mining and traditional Afro jewelry have been inseparable crafts and are loaded with symbolism: freedom, pride, and protection are some of the values that have transcended the centuries and are still present in every piece of jewelry.
Single Origin Choco Hand Panned Eco Gold
The ecological alluvial gold from Chocó, which is delicately hand-panned by these womN miners, is carbon neutral in its origin. It is mercury-free and is part of a transparent supply chain that dignifies the hard work they do. The jewelers are very versatile and master various techniques they have inherited, such as filigree, assembly, chain making, and stamping. The elders pass on their knowledge to the young, keeping this tradition alive.
But these centuries-old sustainable practices and the peaceful lives of these communities around gold and the ecological balance of their territory are threatened. Irregular mechanized gold extraction since the 1990s has deforested their jungles and contaminated their rivers with mercury. It is increasingly difficult for the miners to find the gold necessary for their families' livelihood and for the jewelers to obtain mercury-free gold.
Promoting Sustainability
At Nomad Jeweler, we are proud to give life and continuity to the cultural legacy of artisanal gold mining and Afro jewelry and to contribute to the regeneration of the biodiversity of their territory. Our contemporary design collections, handmade with Single Origin Choco Hand Panned Eco Gold, directly in the workshops of these master jewelers, help keep ancestral techniques alive and bring the best of these communities and their values to the world.
In this project, we have an ally: Ana Sierra, founder of MODA ELAN, whom I met in 2018 when we coincided on a visit to the Fairmined gold mines in Colombia. MODA ELAN is a brand renowned as a Latin American pioneer of ethical jewelry sourcing and sustainable practices. By making it possible for luxury jewelry designers like us to literally intertwine our stories with those of the Afro artisanal miners and jewelers in an inspiring immersive design experience, Ana promotes environmental sustainability and fair labor practices. She has articulated the supply chain of Single Origin Choco Hand Panned Eco Gold and makes it possible for us to work directly at the Afro jewelers' workshops. We share with Ana the values of the amazing people behind the Afro gold and jewelry and the commitment to create positive social and environmental impact while keeping alive the heritage of Colombian Afro jewelry techniques.
