Alethe Fatherly began her career as a gemologist working for Tiffany & co. grading and appraising diamonds and colored gemstones. Later she worked for other industry leaders including Lazare Kaplan International, David Yurman and H. Stern. During these years of professional and personal growth an idea was forming that soon led to a life-changing trip for Fatherly.

Tanzania, home of the popular gemstone tanzanite, was a likely place to start on her quest to do something for others.

Fatherly sold her Patek Philippe watch to pay for her trip where she planned to teach kindergarten for two weeks. It was during this stay that she became acutely aware of the every-day challenges faced by her students and their families. Access to clean drinking water was chief among the problems with women and girls spending hours a day walking to a water source and carrying it back home.

Following her trip to Tanzania, Fatherly founded Jewelers That Care, a non-profit organization whose mission is to contribute to development projects in rural African villages, such as building boarding schools and water wells.

Jewelers For Water is a project that grew from the charity, Jewelers That Care, and in 2012 finished its first well in Tanzania’s Mwanga District, near Mount Kilimanjaro. A sterling silver water-pump pendant was created to mark the occasion with the aim of providing funds for building additional water wells in other needy areas.

New York-based Thomas Kurilla, who has created designs for high-end jewelers such as Tiffany & Co. , designed the pendant. The sterling silver water well pump is crafted of recycled metals and manufactured by Hoover & Strong. It is sold through selected retailers in the United States and has a suggested retail price of US$180.

Further fundraising efforts are currently underway for water wells in other villages in Africa. Contact Alethe Fatherly for more details : Alethe.Fatherley@gmail.com .