Some of the Lily Blanche team were lucky enough to spend part of the summer in Zambia, travelling on safari to the South Luangwa Valley and learning more about ethical gemstone sourcing and elephant conservation. Zambia is the second largest source of emeralds in the world and is also a source of amethyst and tourmaline.
Members of the Lily Blanche studio been travelling to Zambia for 30 years now and we've seen an amazing improvement in terms of lifestyle and economic growth for the people who live there. It's a wonderful country and it is easy to lose your heart to it. While there are often issues with ensuring the people who live there benefit the most from a nation's natural resources, we understand the importance of the gemstone industry to the economy and are keen to support mines which give back to the community and treat their workforce well.
We also spent time visiting one of the International Game Rangers' elephant orphanages, part of a major conservation project to protect this amazing creature. It was great to see so many in the wild in Zambia and until the end of September 10% of the profit from sales at www.lilyblanche.com will go to this cause.
In the little video above, we've teamed our favourite photographs from the trip with our favourite pieces of Lily Blanche jewellery. It's amazing how the colours and forms of the animals and the jewels work together. The tiny lion cub in the video was immensely curious and while his mother and aunt lazed in the sun, he was full of beans and looking to play. We have come back to the studio, refreshed, excited and full of great ideas for our next collections and we can't wait to start designing with these wonderful gemstones.
Love Gillian x
(Gillian Crawford, Creative Director)