Do you have a tainted love for diamonds?
For most of us, diamonds are out of reach. Still, there is no other substitute to commemorate a special occasion, such as an engagement or an anniversary. Their beauty is unmistakable, and a diamond is forever.
But stop for a minute and think about where your diamonds might have come from. Those gorgeous, glittery gems you adore might come with a hidden cost - one that harms young lives.
Consider the underpaid and abused miners scrabbling in the ground for that unmistakable glitter that now adorns your neck, ears or fingers.
These are bloodshed conflict diamonds.
Conflict diamonds are sold on the black market and used to propagate a bloody war that victimises many children.
Many of the labourers, usually young boys, work in open-pit mines in countries such as Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They might end up in shallow graves executed for suspected theft, low productivity, or sometimes just for sport.
The lucky ones only have their hands cut off with machetes.
Now the last thing anyone wants when making a diamond purchase is to know that their diamond may have contributed in some way to such crimes.
So what can you do?
Diamond-lovers with a conscience now have a number of options to make sure their valuable jewellery is ethically mined, and blood- and guilt-free.
Check up the diamond's Certificate of Origin to ensure that it is legitimate, that is, originating from a government controlled area. Diamond-producing countries such as Canada, Russia and Brazil are unlikely to be influenced by such conflicts.
Tamper and forgery resistant by design, this certificate guarantees that your diamond has been mined in its stated country and carefully selected, cut and polished with precision to the world's highest standards.
An independent gemological laboratory should supply each unique registration Certificate.
You should also buy gems from a reliable source, using man-made diamonds.
More than a few companies can now manufacture diamonds in laboratories, which, unless you have a high-powered microscope handy, are virtually indistinguishable from natural diamonds.
These are not to be confused with the other man-made diamond lookalike, cubic zirconia, which does not have the hardness of the other diamonds.
Using diamond-growing machines, the machines look like metallic medicine balls connected on life support, spitting out .3 carat rough diamonds round the clock.
Another method to create diamonds that is rumoured to be in the works is by chemical vapour deposition. Diamonds can be grown in large bricks that, when cut and polished, would be indistinguishable from natural diamonds.
These cultivated, near flawless, gem-quality diamonds have not been anywhere near a mine, and so there is no need to feel guilty about wearing them.
Admittedly, when you consider that natural diamonds are usually formed over thousands of years, and then compare this to a cultured diamond created in a laboratory in a matter of days, well, you do lose some of the romance.
One of the quirkier options to get your hard rocks is through LifeGem, a company that creates coloured diamonds to commemorate your pets or your loved one from their cremated remains.
According to the LifeGem website, “The proprietary LifeGem creation process creates diamonds from the true essence of our loved ones, the carbon.
“The cremated remains consist of ash of your loved one.
“The carbon collected from the cremated remains is that of your loved one.
“Due to the unique nature of our scientific process, every single LifeGem will be a different shade. The elements and impurities in your loved one's carbon directly affect the resulting colour,” it stated.
One of the most frequently asked questions is whether there is enough ash to create a diamond. Surprisingly, an urn usually contains about three kilograms of ash. The company only requires about 200 grams.
Carol had her husband Gerry's ashes, transformed into a diamond. “Just thinking about Gerry's diamond gives me a warm feeling; it's almost as though he's going to be coming home again.
“It's hard to explain - but it's a nice feeling… I'm able to feel something besides the sorrow, loneliness and fear that have been with me since he died.”
According to biochemist Catherine Hoare, who had her 30-year-old gelding memorialised as a diamond when it died in February, she said, “As a scientist, I understand the process that Lucky will go through.
“He was always my rock in life, so it seems only fitting that he will be my rock forever.
“I can't run and throw my arms round Lucky any more. But my ring will remind me of him.”
So make an informed decision when you buy your next diamond and know that your purchase does not encourage abysmal mining practices in conflict-ridden countries.
And it should be a comfort to know that you can own your diamond with a clear conscience.
For more information, visit the following websites: www.lifegem-uk.com, and www.lifegem4pets.co.uk
