Hello, more chunterings from the bench (or the sofa if truth be told!) I thought you might be interested in my ramblings about diamonds…..
What do you know about diamonds? They’re made of carbon, formed under under huge pressure and heat in the earths crust. They’re hard, often used as cutting or polishing tools in industry, they occur naturally as crystals, they’re all probably at least a billion years old.
Ethical, traceable diamonds are in some respects, dificult to find. Most diamonds these days come from Africa, Russia, Australia and Canada. Obviously diamonds are a lucrative business, one that is interesting to warlords, dodgy government officials, or anyone who’d happily exploit another person for for ill gotten gain – whether that’s kids down mines, paying miners peanuts, dangerous working environments or quite literally stealing diamonds at gunpoint. A far cry from the glittering aray of jewels in the jewellery store.
I have no perfect fix for you, but there are options when you buy from me. These are:
Recycled diamonds – saved from old jewellery, repolished and resold. Pro’s – no mining, recycling Con’s – do you mind your diamond having been preloved? Not traceable – may not originally have come from an ethical source.
Laboratory created diamonds: made from Carbon exactly the same as natural diamonds, heat and pressure recreated in the lab. Pro’s – no mining, traceable, ethical. Con’s – not mined so not natural. Less environmental impact than natural diamonds but does have some impacts. More on another post.
Natural traceable stones from De Beers/Rio Tinto. Pro’s – traceable, some of the highest standards of health, safety and environment in the industry. Has helped countries like Botswana to grow. Con’s – Huge mines, huge company/market domination, can potentially put local artisan miners out of business. https://www.debeersgroup.com/world-of-diamonds/from-earth-to-heirloom
A few more articles you might want to have a look at:
“The Diamonds are Forever” slogan – you can thank DeBeers for that. And the two months salary on an engagement ring… that’s also DeBeers https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27371208
Coloured diamonds were never seen as desirable, but when coloured diamonds were found in the Argyll mine, Rio Tinto created a marketing campaign to make them so. https://www.riotinto.com/ourcommitment/spotlight-18130_20247.aspx
DeBeers has always been against laboratory created diamonds… up until recently, where it has now started to sell it’s own. Some fear that DeBeers are going to artificially lower the price of lab created diamonds to the point that it puts it’s now competitors out of business, DeBeers says not. https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/lab-made-diamonds-for-less-jeweller-de-beers-plan-worries-rivals
But whether they’ve decided to do it because of customer demand, or because they’re running out of diamonds to mine, DeBeers are now selling both natural and laboratory diamonds. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7633155/Diamonds-are-running-out-says-De-Beers.html
Ok, that’s enough from me, hope you enjoyed this tour around diamonds. If you’re looking for a piece of diamond jewellery and you’d like a chat about options please get in touch. Let me know what you think in the comments (if only so I know you’re reading). Is there anybody out thereeeeeee?
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