Calling conscious consumers ... this blog is definitely for you.
The current debate is about lab created diamonds versus earth created diamonds & lets start off by saying that both are diamonds.
You probably already know some of the benefits, like how much more affordable lab-created diamonds are, but today we’re shining the spotlight on the category of ethics. It is for this reason & after much research that we refer to lab created (some say lab grown) diamonds as ethically produced diamonds vs mined diamonds.
From environmental issues, through to your personal investment, everything about ethically produced diamonds is cleaner than mined diamonds & in this blog, we’ll illustrate advantages of ethically produced diamonds.
Ethically produced diamonds are conflict-free diamonds. Thinking that mined diamonds with a Kimberley certificate aren’t blood diamonds ? Think again. Blood diamonds (aka conflict diamonds) came into the spotlight in the 1990s, as many African countries in the diamond industry came under scrutiny for the unregulated trade of diamonds & for the funding of those diamonds. Civil wars had erupted across Africa & blood diamonds were providing financial & physical resources for the militias with civil wars, chaos & horrific crimes against citizens.
In order to try to stop this, the UN formed a coalition of 54 countries from around the world to help stop blood diamonds from entering the market. This coalition is now known as the Kimberley Process.
Problem solved, right ? No. We could go on & on however the system was flawed & the Kimberley Process was of no help. The lack of a tracking leaves questions around the journey of a diamond before it’s set in an engagement ring. Therefore, the only true way to know that you’re investing in a conflict-free diamond is by purchasing an ethically produced diamond. Ethically produced diamonds don’t use child labor. Because of widespread income inequality & basic need to survive among those impoverished, children are viewed as a source of cheap labor in the mining industry.
There is power in sharing the truth, & there is a solution in ethically produced diamonds. By buying lab-created diamonds, you never have to wonder if a child suffered in order to create your engagement ring & so the feeling is just better.
Nearly 15% of mined diamonds come from small-scale mining operations, which are in hazardous working conditions & offer up extremely low pay. Wondering how this is possible? The small-scale operations simply are not regulated, so there are no real labor laws in third world countries & certainly no governing bodies to
enforce them. There is a clear advantage to buying ethically produced diamonds with regard to worker exploitation & unsafe conditions. When it comes to sustainability, there are several things to address. Let’s start with what is required from earth in order to mine diamonds.
Did you know that in order to find just one carat of diamond, about 250 000 tons of earth must be moved. Heavy machinery is required for these tasks, including a tremendous amount of fossil fuel & explosives. Not great for the environment, not to mention the huge holes left in the middle of communities.
At this point we should also talk about what kind of energy is required to create diamonds in the lab. The technology & the creation process is known as Chemical Vapour Distillation (CVD), which is much less energy- intensive than the old methods of using high pressure & high temperatures in a laboratory.
Lets remove the dark side of mined diamonds out of the equation & ask ourselves one simple question ...
Would you choose a perfect quality, 2ct ethically produced diamond or a similar grade 1ct mined diamond for the same price & this is probably what it all comes down to.
