Livestrong Jewelry Causes Accessories

This day in age, it’s hip and chic to be eco-friendly and politically aware and there are accessories you can sport to show the world how “with-it” you really are. Only a few years ago, Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong bracelet hit the scene and soon enough celebrities were spotted everywhere with multi-colored rubber “cause bracelets”. Not long afterward the “I am not a plastic bag” tote exploded as a fashion trend. Vegan clothing is in and fur is out. Fair-trade is hot and sweatshops are not. So if it’s the accessory makes the man (or woman!), then it’s important to be just as conscious and educated about the dazzling diamonds you don.

You may have seen the Leonardo DeCaprio box office blockbuster “Blood Diamonds”, but lets get down to specific details. Blood diamonds, technically referred to as conflict diamonds, are an international problem that the UN has already begun to address very seriously. These are diamonds that are typically hand-mined by forced labor within a war-torn zone and then illegally sold to fund terrorism and brutality in war-torn areas, most famously in central and western Africa.

While most diamond-financed civil brutality has occurred historically in the western coast of central Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone), this type of human-rights violation is not limited to this region. The UN’s technical definition of conflict diamonds is: “…diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council.”

Now, when did this business of diamonds get all mixed up with blood and conflict? Conflict diamonds hit the international stage in the late 1990s when there was extreme war brutality in Sierra Leone. A revolutionary group called the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) initiated attacks against the government and began taking over diamond mines. They kidnapped civilians – children included- forcing them to work in diamond mines. The RUF used the profit from illegal diamond trading to finance their insurgent activities.

Blood Diamond Conflict Free

In 1999 the UN finally got involved, deploying a force to deal with the civil-war conflict and the growing international problem of conflict diamonds. In 2000 they immediately banned all imports and exports of rough diamonds from Sierra Lione. At this time, the entire global community including the global diamond trade industry, Amnesty International, and the UN, recognized the need for diamond trade regulations.

By November, 2000, the Kimberley Process Certification System was drafted – a system that helps track diamonds from their mining to their retail sale. What is this certification process exactly? It requires participating governments to certify diamonds as conflict-free, trade diamonds only with other Kimberley Process participating governments, and issue a numbered government-issued certificate to accompany the diamonds from their mining to their retail sale. This makes every diamond traceable to its origin. The agreement was approved, accepted, and fully actualized in August of 2003.

There are currently 74 countries participating in the Kimberley Process Certification System and Now, for the practical info… as an educated consumer, how can you be sure that you are keeping up with the non-conflict, pro-human-rights trends? How can you be certain that your diamond accessories are completely conflict-free?!

Here are some simple steps to buying the most fantastic and fabulous conflict-free diamonds:

- Ask questions: know your retailer and ask them what their policy is on conflict diamonds

- Avoid obvious red-flags: to be sure your diamond is conflict free, stay away from diamonds that come from historically war-torn regions such as central and west Africa or Brazil.

- Know the tracking number: all certified diamonds have a special certification number and can be traced to their origin. The most stringent certification programs engrave their diamonds with a serial number by laser.

- Properly polished and cut: ask for the certification from the regional government program that the diamond was mined, cut and polished there under fair wage and labor conditions by resident workers.

- Buy from a brand that is known as being part of the diamond certification program.