7042 - blood diamonds

[scottobear]

VS asked me today at lunch why I was so dead set against the diamond industry. (Her uncle is a jeweller.)

I told her a bit about blood diamonds (not for the especially squeamish)

http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/kevin.binfield/BloodDiamonds.html

and she came back to me with "well, I'm not that deep... I do know that I want a diamond engagement ring."

I was pretty stunned... Her attitude was "sure, people suffer, but I want my rock".

Sakes... if you must have one, you can certainly do a little research and work around it.


AUF INTERNATIONAL DIAMOND BOYCOTT
MERCENARY CORPORATIONS: LEGACY OF APARTHEID

On October 1, 1999 the leadership of the African Unification Front, declared the international boycott against the diamond industry. The AUF is asking members of the public not to buy diamonds for the following reasons:-

Diamond companies including: Diamond Works, De Beers, Anglo-American, American Diamonds and others, are perpetrating human rights violations on African soil. Millions of Africans have become displaced, sick, or have been killed as a result of violence resulting from competition for control of diamond concessions in the Congo, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and Angola.

Diamond companies employ soldiers who served in Death Squads in Apartheid South Africa, and use the services of mercenary outfits such as Executive Outcomes, Saracen International, International Defense and Security, and the Gurkha Security Guards.

Diamond companies continue to opearate unsafe mines, and have dumped solid mineral waste, and flooded thousands of acres of land with toxic waste-water. The failure of the mining industry to adhere to safety guidelines in mines and alluvial plains poses a health hazard to all humans.

The diamond industry is exploiting and abusing African labourers. Working conditions for diamond workers are hazardous and have resulted in disease and deaths in South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Congo and Angola.

The entire gems industry is responsible for these abuses, not just certain companies. The entire industry is regulated by a handfull of organs including DeBeers, and the Central Selling Organization.

Almost all of the world's diamonds come out of Africa, and those that do not come from Africa are marketed by DeBeers and the CSO. The entire industry is benefiting from the human rights abuse, political weakness, and military violence in Africa.

NB: The AUF International Diamond Boycott will remain in place indefinately or until the industry stops degrading the environment, ceases the flaunting of labour laws, and ceases to disrupt good civil order in Africa.

from - http://www.africanfront.com/diamondboycott.php

Comments

[meredith.livejournal.com]

i would yell and scream if my man gave me a diamond engagement ring. i think it's a pointless, contrived, tradition to make a few people wealthy. i'd rather buy a house and make a real estate agent wealthy. :)

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

You, my dear, are a rare gem! (pardon the pun) Yours is a lucky man, indeed!

Hooray for houses!

[meredith.livejournal.com]

er, and i forgot to mention, i'm also afraid i'd lose the damn thing. :)

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

It'd become a *very* expensive kitty-toy!

[mintygirl.livejournal.com]

Considering I don't want to get married, getting a diamond would freak me out for other reasons! I never thought they were pretty. I like COLOR! I rather travel with the money meant for a ring.

But I am so glad my coworker got an estate ring and not a "new" diamond ring. She was very concerned about the diamond boycott and had her fiance, now husband get that for her.

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

That's another excellent way to take care of things... an estate ring has history and nifty recycle value.

[resilience.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I could say no to this (http://www.library.ucsf.edu/collres/scipub/tiffany_ring.jpg).

Is there a list of safe jewelers, other than the Canadian ones they list on that site?

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, the safest way is to go through an estate, and resetting an existing stone into a new piece of jewelry.

http://www.smallcapmedia.com/articles/diamonds/diamonds-january-15-2003.html

those are canadian, too, but may not be all the same.

[rosin-dubh.livejournal.com]

I too, have never found diamonds all that pretty. I prefer emeralds or opals (especially the darker ones). When my (now) hubby was looking to get me a ring with which to propose, I told him if he got me a diamond, I'd leave him. (Mainly because I didn't want him to spend the money on something I didn't want in the first place, since he had other, more important things to pay for... like school.) Sixish years later, I am still sans engagement ring, but the wedding ring makes me more than happy.

The fact that so many people are put in harms way so that an outdated custom can keep its feet is pretty disturbing though. I wonder how many of the diamonds mined by children are at the bottoms of streams and ponds because an engagement went the wrong way, somebody got mad, and tossed it away?

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

Opals are really beautiful, I agree.

Hooray for your happy wedded bliss! :D

I suspect that most people have no idea how harsh it is on the folks that dig to provide.

[juliabee.livejournal.com]

People can buy Moissanites. They don't have the blood factor, they sparkle more than diamonds...and are cheaper. Though..I don't hop on anyone for the price factor...a $10.00 item can be a waste of money depending on who is looking at your 10 buck item and thinking it's stupid & or wrong. :P :0)

There's a death factor (especially death by silicosis) in many stones that come from certain countries though.
India is one of the problem countries. So..not just diamonds, but could be other stones that women put in their rings, depending on which country it came from.


I refuse to buy beads from India for that very reason. Aside from the poor quality workmanship, they could care less about safety precautions for their workers. Beaders and metalsmiths will flock to buy India beads because of the low price. The lower the price, the cheaper you can sell your jewelry for. Many U.S. stores carry India beads.

Interestingly enough, If I were to post a link to something I'm selling on Ebay jewelry-wise, you can bet someone on my list would be aghast at my prices. Why? Because they know their friend XX sells necklaces for $15-20, and it's often (not always!) because XX can afford to. I can with certain things... but for the most part, my prices have to be higher for many reasons and where I choose to or not to buy from is one of the factors. Ask XX where he/she got her beads..and they probably don't know...but when the dig, they often find out their stuff came from one of the silicosis, cheap-o countries.

Then..there's gold. There's a debate about using gold, too. People go at it about gold on the metalsmith forums. I would get you a link, but it's been so long they aren't showing up on the forums right now. On the other hand, there are U.S. miner wives on the forums, who along with their hubbies about some wanting to boycott gold, too.

My dad bought my step-mom a Moissanite for Xmas last year. :))) You might not be surprised at how many women would turn down a Moissanite. :P

[juliabee.livejournal.com]

oops..."who along with their hubbies about some wanting to boycott gold, too. "

I meant to say, they get angry with those who want to boycott gold. sorry!

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

No worries! I follow! :D

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

As always, your have a wonderful, well-thought out response. :D

I'm totally on the bandwagon with you regarding painful imports from overseas... I feel so guilty when I find out something I've gotten was produced partially in China, due to her cruelty concerns, too. Kudos to you for not using substandard or cruel materials!

Did your stepmom like the Moissanite? How was it set?

I've heard a little bit about gold being hard on the environment, but have never heard about it from the miner point of view.

[juliabee.livejournal.com]

Should have mentioned, that I can't speak for all places in India and China. :P
In AZ, I had a friend from China. Her father was still there & had a factory. I met him once and he showed me photos. Had a really decent housing complex for the workers, health care of some sort, nap time (haha..yay!), Decent hours, etc. No children working there.

How do I know I'm not screwing over owners & workers like that by boycotting. Don't, I suppose.

---------------
Pulling olddd things from storage for a yard sale..noticed many things came from China. :P Some things are not marked..so I don't know where they came from? Hmm.

She dug the moissanite. She opened the stone on Xmas day, plus a certificate to go back and pick out a setting. A ring, I think.

Yeah, I need to reread the thing about gold. I wish I could find it again!

[juliabee.livejournal.com]

Oh and thank you...! :0))
I bet you don't know that I was worried that I sounded snickety after pressing submit. I dislike that about the written word minus face and sound...

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

Hee... never fear! I feel you're always being earnest, unless you're being silly! :D

[eryx-uk.livejournal.com]

Not all diamonds come from such draconic conditions. Is there any way of honestly knowing if one does or not?

Not that I am ever going to be able to afford a diamond in any case.

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

For absolute sure? It'd be tough... I'd say the only way you could be 100% sure is to dig for them yourself (no snark intended), or just get a synthetic.