Buying Diamonds Responsibly

I wrote this story for WIRED about whether or not the diamonds you buy online are blood diamonds, or conflict-free diamonds. Amazon told me that they have a policy to only carry conflict-free diamonds in their inventory and only work with third party retailers that carry diamonds that are certified to be conflict-free using the Kimberley Process. However, there is no proof of that anywhere on their site. A responsible diamond consumer should look for the conflict-free certification first and foremost, before the other four C's of diamond hunting. One would therefore not purchase diamonds from Amazon in that case.

To find certified conflict free diamond retailers near you, go to Canada Mark, a diamond certification company.

Comments

[Swisha]

This is worthy to care about blood diamonds or not even though I think most companies lie about the status of their diamonds. They are all trying to make money and some don't care about the lengths people go through in order to get them. I watched a special on this stuff a couple of years ago and it just amazes me that these companies make millions and millions and the people in Africa see nothing, literally. Most of them haven't even seen what a cleaned, polished, cut diamond looks like. Damn terrible if you ask me.

[Anjuan]

Great information. I got married over five years ago so the whole blood diamond issue was unknown to me when I purchased my wife's engagement ring. While I do not think that the jeweler who sold me the ring purchased any diamonds from Africa, there is no way for me to know for sure. I hope that the media continues to highlight this issue and not let it fade from public perception.

[David]

There's no such thing as a conflict-free diamond for a man purchasing one especially if he's cheap.

[LulaBLACK22]

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