BLOOD DIAMONDS
Blood Diamonds (Also called conflict diamonds) – uncut or rough diamonds that are sold to fund war or other atrocities.
We like to know the facts surrounding an issue. I’ll tell you what I know about blood diamonds. I’ll include links to relevant websites so you can make an informed decision whether diamonds are right for you.
The countries linked to blood diamonds are Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau. In the 1980’s through the late 1990’s, some diamonds from these countries were sold to finance civil wars. These warring groups committed rape, injured many, tortured, abducted, and killed to gain access to rough diamonds to fund their agendas.
The Kimberly Process was devised to isolate these countries from the broader world diamond market. While the Kimberly Process isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t address other humanitarian issues, it largely eliminates blood diamonds from the world diamond market. According to the kimberlyprocess.com website 99.8% of diamonds today are not blood diamonds.
There are some new developments that will also help you to know that the diamond you buy isn’t a blood diamond.
- GIA (Gemological Institute of America) is now offering grading reports that identify where the diamond was mined. This report is not widely available yet but diamonds with this report will be more common in the future.
- Some Canadian diamonds have reports that guarantee their Canadian origin. Canada produces about 11% of gem quality diamonds in the world. Most diamonds from Canada are under 1 carat but very high quality.
A few well-meaning people have stopped buying diamonds. They think that by not buying diamonds they are in some small way helping the situation. But, what if diamonds also do good? What if some people gain access to education or medical care because of diamonds. More than 10 million people work in the diamond industry worldwide. Take a look at totalclarity.naturaldiamonds.com for more information about the positive side of diamonds
Plateau Jewelers does not support any individual, group or organization that supports blood diamonds.