ColumnistsFeb 20, 2026
Peter Smith: Happiness, Cavemen, and Jewelry SalesSmith encourages salespeople to ask customers questions that elicit the release of oxytocin, the brain’s “feel-good” chemical.
Apr 23, 2021
Watch: An Update on the Moyo Gems Project 2 Years In
Three of the key players talk about the challenges involved, how the project has changed miners’ lives, and where it goes from here.
Amid conversations about responsible sourcing and tracing stones from mine to market, several industry players got together a few years ago to launch a project aimed at addressing these very issues.
NGO Pact and wholesalers Anza Gems and Nineteen48 collaborated with the Tanzania Women Miners Association to launch Moyo Gems in early 2019, bringing colored gems mined by women in Tanga, Tanzania to market.
The stones officially were available to purchase through the wholesalers later that year.
Now, two years in, the program continues to expand.
To check in on project’s progress and where it might go from here, Senior Editor, Gemstones Brecken Branstrator chatted with Anza Gems Founder Monica Stephenson as well as Pact’s Cristina Villegas and Norbert Massay in the latest “My Next Question” webinar.
Watch the full session above.
Join us again next Wednesday, April 28 at 10 a.m. Eastern for a discussion between Senior Editor, Fashion Ashley Davis and Elle Hill about how to launch and grow a business.
For more information or to register, visit NationalJeweler.com/webinars.
NGO Pact and wholesalers Anza Gems and Nineteen48 collaborated with the Tanzania Women Miners Association to launch Moyo Gems in early 2019, bringing colored gems mined by women in Tanga, Tanzania to market.
The stones officially were available to purchase through the wholesalers later that year.
Now, two years in, the program continues to expand.
To check in on project’s progress and where it might go from here, Senior Editor, Gemstones Brecken Branstrator chatted with Anza Gems Founder Monica Stephenson as well as Pact’s Cristina Villegas and Norbert Massay in the latest “My Next Question” webinar.
Watch the full session above.
Join us again next Wednesday, April 28 at 10 a.m. Eastern for a discussion between Senior Editor, Fashion Ashley Davis and Elle Hill about how to launch and grow a business.
For more information or to register, visit NationalJeweler.com/webinars.
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IndependentsFeb 19, 2026
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