How to Avoid Buying Conflict Jewelry and Blood Diamonds

As beautiful as diamonds and other jewelry stones may be, they often come at a high cost. Over the past twenty years, there has been a lot of news about conflict diamonds. This is a broad term for diamonds that are produced in controversial ways, like through slave or child labor. It’s been one of many deeply-rooted problems in places like sub-Saharan Africa, where the citizens are poor and the governments are corrupt.

The diamond industry in many developing countries is a haven for local warlords and corrupt officials, leading to major social unrest. In addition, purchasing an expensive diamond from a developing country rarely helps the average African person.  Instead, your purchase finances civil war, genocide, and other atrocities. Many sources even claim that diamond money helps to finance the terrorist group al Qaeda. This is why diamonds from sub-Saharan Africa are often known as, “Blood Diamonds”: in order for that diamond to go from the ground to your engagement ring, many people had to die.

If you don’t care about whether your new jewelry is supporting genocide in developing countries, then you won’t care about the information in this article. For those of you who want to do their part to prevent serious social problems, keep reading.

What do blood diamonds cause?

Blood diamonds are bad because they create conflict in developing countries. Think of it like this: if you travel to a nation where there are plenty of poor people and then place a rock in the middle of the street, nothing will happen. But if you announce that you will pay a million dollars to the person who brings you that rock, everybody will suddenly be climbing over each other to obtain it. When somebody finally obtains the rock, they may even be murdered by another person.

The diamond industry faces a similar problem. With so much money being offered for the precious stones, warlords have sprung up to fight over areas in which diamonds could be found. Since warlords couldn’t care less about labor laws, they often save costs by using child and slave labor. The work is dangerous and dirty. If one worker dies, the warlord simply needs to raid another village to find another.

What does this mean for people who buy jewelry?

                  Inevitably, these diamonds end up on the wedding rings and bracelets of middle-class consumers in North America, Europe, and Asia. A few years ago, it was almost impossible to tell where your diamonds had come from. Today, there are two main ways to ensure that your diamonds are conflict-free.

The easiest way is to choose Canadian diamonds. After African diamonds became controversial, Canadian diamond companies developed a system of authentication that proved their diamonds came from safe, clean, Canadian mines. This certification also outlines handling, packing, and marking procedures to ensure a conflict-free status.

The best part about buying Canadian diamonds is that many jewelry retailers participate in the program. Before buying a diamond, a retailer must provide you with an invoice, diamond identification, and an explanation of the Canadian diamond Code of Conduct.

Africa is also making strides towards developing its own conflict-free certification. Today, a standard called the Kimberly Process is doing its part to ensure that the diamonds of all participating companies are conflict-free. The Process was founded by several African countries that wanted to reduce social problems in their area.

While it’s still in a basic stage, the Kimberley Process is beginning to monitor all raw diamonds that move in and out of Africa. Using sealed, tamper-proof boxes, the Process makes it plain to see which diamonds came from conflict areas.

Where can I buy conflict-free diamonds?

On the internet, many jewelry websites sell conflict-free diamonds. Since they avoid the overhead costs of operating a retail store, buying a diamond from these online outlets is often the cheapest option.

Clean diamond directory websites have also appeared on the internet. These sites have made it their duty to sort out and rank jewelry stores based on their adherence to anti-conflict diamond policies.

If a diamond is being sold at a suspiciously low cost, there is almost always something wrong with it. Sometimes, it has been stolen. Other times, it’s a conflict/blood diamond. Just in case you’ve actually found a legitimate, clean diamond for sale, ask the store or website for verification.

Consider choosing artificial diamonds

If you’re on a budget, or can’t afford to make socially-conscious decisions, consider buying an artificial diamond. Despite the stigma around cubic zirconia crystals, they’re nearly indistinguishable from real diamonds. They’re also far less expensive than authentic stones, and are guaranteed to be free of conflict.

If you’re already going that route, consider buying another substance called ‘moissanite’. It’s similar to cubic zirconia, but looks more authentic. Basically, moissanite is a genuine, organic compound which happens to resemble natural diamonds. Moissanite is a recent technological invention, but it has already become a strong rival to cubic zirconia in the artificial diamond market. No matter which artificial diamond you choose, you can be assured that its purchase didn’t contribute to genocide in Africa.

The Final Word

While it’s not the customer’s responsibility to clean up the diamond industry, individual choices at the consumer level have the power to send a message to multinational companies. If you want to do your part to reduce conflict, terrorism, and murder, make sure that the diamonds in your jewelry are certified to be conflict free. Or, you can avoid the issue entirely be choosing an artificial stone.

It’s important not to label every single precious stone as being a conflict diamond. In fact, more than 90% of diamonds today are produced in clean, conflict-free ways. Most people only buy a few diamonds in their lifetime. Since your jewelry piece will last for ages, you don’t want it to constantly remind you of the genocide and violence that created it. When you make the right choice at a jewelry store, the whole world benefits.