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A “Diamond Is For Chumps”, was a recent headline on Atlantic.com, linking to an article by Edward J. Epstein, written in 1982. Epstein traces how DeBeers successfully manipulated cultural beliefs, linking the ritual of engagement and marriage to the diamond. It also details their attempt to maintain their cartel, and points out, once again, how common diamonds really are, a point I am reminded on every time I walk into a hardware store and see diamond saw blades.

Discounting the poetic connection that some might recognize between saw blades, diamonds and the act of getting married, the information provided in the piece is startling even today, particularly because many jewelers continue to treat sourcing issues as a marketing problem instead of a moral crisis. They advertise their ‘conflict free diamonds’ without even knowing where they came from.

Epstein helps one to understand how the diamond trade, like other commodities, perpetuates discordance in our humanity. A diamond worn on an engagement ring sourced onerously does not make sense, yet it remains an accepted norm! How can this possibly be the case?

Simply speaking, we live in a fragmented world where such disconnect is all too common. Our very act of economic exchange often undermines the environmental and social communities essential to our survival as a species. The commoditization of resources is at the root of this pervasive issue. We live in a resource to cash to trash economy. Trash includes not only the environment, but the communities and cultures in the way of the commodity train. In the jewelry sector such irony is particularly noticeable because of what jewelry represents!

The benefit of human folly and tragedy is derived only by enduring the searing light of reflection. Yet there has never been any truth and reconciliation in the diamonds sector. Indeed, a mere ten years ago myriads of diamonds were being sold that funded wars resulting in the deaths of 3.7 million Africans for which not one person in the diamond sector has ever been held accountable.

The diamond sector’s fragmentation continues to result in massive ironies. Stating that diamonds are for chumps can be expressed in many different ways.

“Conflict free,” means Kimberley Process Certified. Kimberley, does not account for human rights, labor or environmental atrocity, a notion that in itself is unimaginable to the large scale mining sector who’s latest efforts include branding themselves as “sustainable”. The notion of a “conflict free diamond” is broadly interpreted in the marketing of the diamonds to the public to mean, a safe and ethical diamond.

But that is not the case. Anyone who believes that the Kimberley Certification Process (which has been broadly discredited in the jewelry sector) assures an ethical conflict free diamond is a chump.

If you do not want to buy a diamond for chumps, the first step is to know where your diamonds come from and grapple with making a purchase that is ethical. For some, purchasing a diamond from Canada, despite the ravaging impact of mining in the Northwest territory, is the best option.

For others, a diamond mined and cut in Botswana or Namibia is the better choice. At this point, we lack an option that would allow us to support a small scale artisan miner directly. Yet we are in the beginning phases of a major transformation of the jewelry sector, analogous to where fair trade coffee was in the Seventies.

If there is to be any kind of redemption in the diamond story, it will be through the positive impact of beneficiation and fair trade, altruistically defined outside of some of the current, profit driven institutional models. The only diamond worth buying today is the redemptive diamond.

We can begin to connect our personal values to our economic choices. The redemptive diamond supports new relationships that are based on fair and equitable exchange. It is worthy of wearing and reflective of its talismanic beauty. Wearing such a diamond then becomes a symbol of a future we want to live in.

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Marc Choyt is President of Reflective Images, a designer jewelry company, http://celticjewelry.com selling conflict free diamonds and unique wedding rings at: http://artisanweddingrings.com. Marc authors http://fairjewelry.org, a website covering fair trade gem and jewelry issues.

Tags: blood, canadian, conflict, diamond, diamonds, free, namibia