Blood Diamonds

"For every hand in marriage another is taken away"

I'm likely to offends some of you with this post. Because after all, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend" and "Diamonds are forever."  To some of us who are more informed, we know these sparkly gems a blood diamonds or conflict diamonds. The United Nations such a diamond as a "diamond that originates from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council." 

A blood diamond is one that is mined from an war torn area. Blood diamonds have originated from Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The profit of these gems fund wars in various countries. One thing to consider is that there are people who rely on the diamond trade as a source of income. If matters were handled humanely violence would not be an issue.

To no fault of their own, many are ignorant to the issue surrounding blood diamonds. On the flip side, some consumers and jewelers actually choose to ignore the ugliness that exists. We live in a "bling bling" culture and diamonds are considered a point of status being that they are so expensive. This influence can make it difficult for some to separate themselves from diamonds even with the knowledge of the consequences. Of course this is no excuse.

The author of blogsite The Bright Continent gives us a good example of how excuses can be damaging. In a 2010 post, The Bright Continent commented on how Russell Simmons, and then wife Kimora Lee Simmons, announced in 2006 that their jewelry company and how Simmons claimed that “Africans need this industry”. The Bright Continent tells us that the Simmons Jewelry Co.,  launched the “Green Initiative“, a capsule collection of malachite and diamond bracelets with 25% of proceeds being donated to selected African charities." It makes little sense to donate money to Africa when purchasing diamonds is contributing to one of the problems Africa faces.

Excuses like this may strike a feeling of disgust and for some of us it may be easy to abstain from purchasing diamonds. I am one of those people, however, many cell phones and computers, use the minerals tantalum and tin, which are sold to supply chains. So in the end, many of us are just as guilty as those who purchase big rocks for fashion. Even so, all is not lost. For many of us cell phones and computers are a necessity. We need them for work and for pleasure. For information about conflict free cell phones and computers computers visit Raise Hope for Congo.

If you are a person who is saddened that you can no longer in good conscience purchase diamonds, there is supposedly such a thing as a conflict-free diamond. If you are looking for a safe diamond, one of the retailers to seek is Brilliant Earth.

Brilliant Earth claims to know where their diamonds are mined and they track their diamonds from the mines to market sources so that they may understand that the gems are contributing to the well being of others. Brilliant Earth asserts that, "Many retailers make vague claims that their diamonds are conflict free. These retailers generally rely upon Kimberley Process certification, a woefully inadequate system, which only certifies that a diamond has not been exported from a country in an official state of civil war. The Kimberley Process completely ignores concerns such as child labor, torture, rape, extreme poverty, environmental harm, and violence perpetuated by governments.

For a conflict free diamond guarantee to be credible, retailers should be able to certify, in writing, that their diamonds have been mined and finished without violence, worker exploitation, or environmental devastation. Retailers should also be able to track the path taken by their diamonds from mine to final delivery."

According to Blood Diamonds Are For Never, there is no way one can truly know if a diamond they purchase is conflict free.Visit the website to learn more.

Ultimately it is up to each jeweler and consumer to do the research and reach conclusions on their own. Soul searching will leave you comfortable or uncomfortable with the purchasing of diamonds.