The KAB Sourcing Pledge is a responsible-sourcing initiative associated with the wider Knowledge of Authentic Buying, or KAB, framework in the international coloured-stone trade. The initiative was developed in the 2010s and 2020s to extend the principles of the Kimberley Process and the Responsible Jewellery Council, both of which were originally focused on diamonds and on broader supply-chain certification, into the more fragmented and harder-to-trace coloured-stone trade.

Context

The coloured-stone supply chain is structurally different from the diamond pipeline. Most coloured stones are produced by artisanal and small-scale miners, traded through informal networks before reaching cutting centres in Bangkok, Jaipur, Chanthaburi or elsewhere, and only become traceable when they enter the certified-laboratory stage. The Kimberley Process certification scheme, in operation since 2003, has no direct coloured-stone equivalent, and the Responsible Jewellery Council's Code of Practices has only partial coloured-stone coverage. The KAB Sourcing Pledge sits within this gap and offers a voluntary commitment framework for dealers, cutters and retailers.

Documented coverage

The pledge framework as described in trade press coverage commits signatories to a set of disclosure and due-diligence practices, including documentation of country of origin where available, disclosure of treatments, refusal to handle stones from sources subject to international sanctions, and adherence to anti-money-laundering practice in line with national legal requirements. Implementation in practice depends on the signatory's position in the supply chain and on the documentation available from upstream sources.

Limitations

Public information on the KAB Sourcing Pledge is limited, and the initiative does not have the institutional weight of the Kimberley Process or of the major industry standards published by the Responsible Jewellery Council, the International Coloured Gemstone Association or the American Gem Trade Association. For Skyjems and similar dealers the pledge is relevant principally as one of several voluntary frameworks in a coloured-stone responsible-sourcing landscape that remains less codified than the diamond pipeline. Buyers should treat the pledge as a useful but partial signal and continue to rely on direct supplier relationships, laboratory documentation and origin-disclosure conventions for substantive due diligence.