Jane Goodall's Brilliant Earth Jewelry Line Honors 'My Beloved Tanzania:' Inside the Icon's Collab

Jewelry with a delicate banana leaf motif and crafted with recycled gold and sustainable diamonds are part of the new capsule collection honoring the trailblazing chimpanzee researcher

Dr. Jane Goodall spent endless hours in the Tanzanian forest studying chimpanzees and travels 300 days a year spreading her message of hope for the planet.

But when it comes to all-day photo shoots? The iconic conservationist would prefer to be elsewhere.

“Jane was not in love with a photo shoot for a full day, as you can imagine,” Beth Gerstein, CEO and Co-Founder of the ethically sourced jewelry brand Brilliant Earth said in Manhattan Thursday night at an exclusive dinner celebrating the trailblazer's new collaborationg. “Her life's work is not taking images.”

So when the 90-year-old was in Tanzania this summer getting ready to shoot the campaign for Brilliant Earth’s newest line, The Jane Goodall Collection, she decided to shake things up a bit.

Before setting out to take pictures amidst the lushness of Tanzania, where Goodall made her mark researching chimpanzees in the wild for more than 20 years, she, Gerstein and others got ready in a hotel suite “which was for makeup and stuff, which I don't do,” Goodall said during a Q&A with Gerstein.

“In the middle of this room, where my granddaughter was being made up, there was a bathtub. Because I wanted us to start off having fun, what did I do?”

Laughing, Gerstein replied that Goodall encouraged them all to squeeze into the tub.

“I got in first,” Goodall recounted. “And then I asked you to take off your shoes and get into the bathtub. Susanna (Name, of the Jane Goodall Institute) also got into the bathtub. And didn't that make a difference?”

Looking at the audience, Goodall asked, “So why on Earth would somebody who spent years studying chimpanzees in the jungle, why would I want to have a collaboration with Brilliant Earth?"

“The reason is that I was able to go to Brazil and fly over the Amazon and see the absolute devastation of the Amazon River because of illegal gold mining,” she says. "I've never seen anything as horrifying.”

Related: 90th Birthday Queen Jane Goodall Lives in Childhood Home with Sister When She’s Not 'Busier Than Ever' Spreading Hope (Exclusive)

As a lifelong champion of all living things, Goodall travels the globe 300 days out of the year with the Jane Goodall Institute, the non-profit she founded in 1977, talking to people about conservation and the importance of working to tame the climate crisis.

She is pleased that ten percent of proceeds from The Jane Goodall Collection will benefit the JGI and her work to save the planet for future generations.

Goodall was also pleased that the photo shoot took place on July 24, World Chimpanzee Day, the anniversary of the moment she began her groundbreaking research on wild chimps in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park in 1960 at age 26.

“Hopefully this relationship between JGI and Brilliant Earth will help consumers understand, ‘Oh my goodness, I didn't realize that my gold ring was destroying rivers around the world. I didn't realize the damage that mining for diamonds is doing around the world. Now I have to think differently.’

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The Jane Goodall Collection is part of Brilliant Earth’s ‘Rethink Everything You Know About Diamonds’ campaign.

Related: Jane Goodall Marks 60 Years of Arriving in Gombe to Begin Her Groundbreaking Research on Chimps

“The Jane Goodall Collection pays homage to my beloved Tanzania, serving as a poignant reminder to consumers that their conscious choices in daily life can catalyze meaningful change,” Goodall said in a release from Brilliant Earth. “We all play a role and have an impact on our collective future.”

Inspired by the lush forests where Goodall studied chimpanzees in the wild, “the collection’s motif is centered on banana leaves, cherished for their natural beauty and role as a crucial part of daily life for communities around the globe,” according to the release.

Crafted with Brilliant Earth’s ethically and sustainably sourced materials, the limited-edition line features Brilliant Earth’s Capture Collection diamonds, which are made in clean energy facilities with CO2 before it’s released into the atmosphere, according to the release.

Each piece is made with certified recycled gold sourced from responsible refiners.

“Partnering with Dr. Jane Goodall to launch The Jane Goodall Collection as part of ‘Rethink’ was a natural fit," Gerstein said in the release. "Her lifelong work in conservation and her continued dedication through The Jane Goodall Institute are just some of the examples of how she is inspiring future generations to get involved in protecting our planet.”

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