Conflict Free Diamonds

Have you ever heard of a conflict-free diamond? Not until I was introduced to this diamond website had I ever heard of this phrase at all. I had no idea there was even controversy surroundings diamonds. According to this web site this issue has been a problem since the beginning of the 20th century. They call it the "blood diamond".

Since the beginning of the 20th century, diamond-rich regions have endured unspeakable destruction for their wealth. The conflict diamond trade has dealt permanent scars to people and nations around the world, fueling bloody civil wars, human rights abuses, child labor and terrorist organizations. Despite widespread acknowledgement in the industry of their existence, these conflict diamonds have been smuggled into other regions and now are indistinguishable from the rest of the supply. Until now, it has been nearly impossible to verify the origin of diamonds and the conditions in which they are produced. The diamond industry’s attempt to address the problem of conflict diamonds has resulted in the Kimberley Process which has been deemed woefully inadequate by independent NGOs and government monitoring bodies.

This issue is very troubling to me. The thought of such a beautiful stone like the diamond causing such pain to so many people makes me ill. The diamond itself is not the cause but it does make you look at them a little differently. It gets worse.

Much of the mining is carried out by illegal miners in very poor and dangerous conditions. A recent study found 46% of miners in Angola are under the age of 16, with many of the children working because of war, poverty, and the absence of education.

BrilliantEarth.com is a conflict-free diamond supplier. They pride themselves on carrying conflict-free diamonds so much so that they give 5% of their profits to the Diamonds for Africa fund.