Zimbabwe Allowed to Remain Part of Kimberley Process

As a perfect example of the failing of the the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KP), Zimbabwe, a country whose sale and trade of blood diamonds is well documented, is allowed to remain a member of the organization.

According to the Wall Street Journal, KP members decided instead to send a monitor to Zimbabwe to supervise the country’s diamond production and impose a 12-month timeline for reforms.

Under the agreement, Zimbabwe is banned from exporting any stones from the Marange fields until the monitor arrives, which could take weeks or even months.

The decision not to suspend Zimbabwe came as a shock to many as there is much evidence to prove that Zimbabwe is in fact trading in blood diamonds.

• In May, Ian Smillie, one of the founders of the Kimberley Process stepped down stating that KP was failing and that he could no longer associate with the effort.
• In June, the organization Human Rights Watch released a report that detailed how Zimbabwe’s armed forces were forcing children and adults into labor, and torturing and beating local villagers on the Marange fields.
• In July, a KP review mission visited the South African nation and reports circulated that the KP team had recommended a six-month suspension for Zimbabwe.
• Following the events of the summer, various industry organizations, including the World Diamond Council and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, called upon the governments that comprise the KP to take action in ending  the problems in Zimbabwe.

Composite rubies being sold as natural at major department store

ABCs ‘Good Morning America’ show revealed this week that Macy’s department store was selling composite rubies as natural gems.

The five-and-a-half minute story, produced by Good Morning America, sheds light on the fact that certain department stores are selling composite rubies–those that are a mix of natural ruby and lead-glass–without proper disclosure to their customers. As you would imagine, composite rubies have far less value than a natural ruby and are less durable. Without knowing what you are purchasing, you wouldn’t know how to care for the jewelry or if you are getting a good deal.

While in a Macy’s during the undercover excursion, the correspondents were blatantly told that the pieces they were buying contained real rubies, weren’t treated and didn’t need any special care.

More information about this story on National Jeweler.

November birthstone: gem of friendship

Topaz, the November birthstone, derives its name from the Sanskrit word ‘tapas,’ which means fire.

Topaz as once believed to sweeten dreams and dispositions. The wearer of a topaz was thought to exhibit gracious and charistmatic qualities that led to the gem’s nickname ‘The Gem of Friendship.’

Topaz is a beautiful gem that comes in a variety of colors with the most rare being natural pink, red and golden orange. The ready availability of blue topaz makes it affordable and popular. In addition to pink, red and blue, topaz is found in shades of yellow, green, brown and even clear. Colorless topaz can be confused with colorless sapphires and even diamonds.

Though topaz is a durable and accessible gem, it is remains difficult to find pure color topaz that has not been color enhanced through irradiation or heating. Fair-trade topaz are also quite rare.

Fight for rights of Greenland’s gems

Greenland, the world’s largest island, is a self‐governing Danish province located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, East of the Canadian Arctic. Many gemstones have been found in Greenland including diamonds, rubies, and pink sapphires to name just a few. The past several years have marked a complicated struggle of the mineral resources between the government and the indigeous people.

In 1966, ruby was first discovered in West Greenland. In 2004, True North Gems (TNG), a medium-sized Canadian mining company, obtained an exclusive exploration license of a 3600 square kilometer area.

The fight for native mineral rights in Greenland gained momentum and public attention when William Rohtert, a geologist and gemologist from Los Angeles and who had worked for TNG, got involved. Rohtert had deep empathy for the Greenland marginalized people, particularly for the Inuit. He is of Native American ancestry and this coupled with his professional skills made him ideally positioned to help the artisanal miners in their struggle against the Danish.

With the help of Rohtert, the indigenous people including Niels Madsen, learned how to professionally prospect, facet and polish gems. He also imparted true knowledge of their wealth and value, which created conflict with True North Gems and the Danish run Bureau for Minerals and Petroleum (BMP).

On the 16th of August, 2007, Madsen and friends went to protest their rights in law by prospecting ruby on the TNG exploration site. In Danish mineral law TNG had no exploitation license that would have granted them exclusivity and therefore had no legal power to stop the protest.

TNG called in the BMP to arrest and confiscate the ruby collected by Niels and his four friends. This action by BMP was not strictly lawful, but the lack of accountability meant that they had the power.

This injustice catalyzed the creation of the 16th August Union, which takes its name from the infamous date the miners were arrested. The arrest led to an island wide clamp down on all indigenous local people having rights to gem mining.

The 16th August Union is Greenland’s first official small-scale miners association. The aim of the union is to work with the with the Danish Bureau for Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) to reach a fair agreement that allows indigenous people right to the land.

Since then, the BMP have ignored reasoned argument for responsible small scale mining. They have hired lawyers to construct erroneous interpretations of Danish laws to cover up their behavior and to protect the vested interests of TNG.

More information about Greenland’s fight for gem rights is available at FairJewelry.org.

Lab-created diamonds harder to come by

As consumers have sought responsible alternatives to traditionally mined diamonds, the demand for lab-created diamonds has increased. Unfortunately, the supply hasn’t.

Lab-created diamonds (also called lab-grown, man-made or synthetic) are optically, chemically and physically identical to their mined counterparts, but do not carry the same degree of social and environmental impact. Though the white lab-grown diamonds are comprable in price to mined white diamonds, the colored lab-grown gems offer an incredible value compared to colored mined diamonds.

Sadly, the technology to create gem quality, ring size diamonds has hardly evolved since the first diamond was produced in 1953. The “sweet spot” for lab-grown white diamonds remains at about .30 carats. Though lab-grown diamonds tend to be cut in such a way as to appear larger than they are (wider table), this size hardly fulfills the vision of many American brides to be.

The increased interest in lab-grown diamonds as consumers become more socially responsible coupled with the lack of supply has created a unfortunate situation where fake lab-created diamonds are being sold as genuine lab-created. Price and size are usually the best indicators of whether or not the diamond is genuine. So, if you see a 3-carat white lab-created diamond for $2500, you can be sure it is a simulant (fake).

To be clear, fake lab-grown diamonds are just like fake diamonds in that they are worthless. Genuine lab-grown diamonds carry the same value as genuine mined diamonds.

Read a past post about lab-created diamonds

More information on lab-created diamonds

Are gems being treated unfairly?

[Many of the colored gemstones on the market today have been treated to enhance their beauty and durability.]

To be clear, a treated gemstone is still a real gemstone, but it has been enhanced for greater value. Commonly, heat treating gems is used to alter the color of the gem. Bright blue topaz, blue-violet tanzanite, and the deep red of rubies are all examples of gems that are extremely rare in nature.

Most jewelers do sell treated goods. The practice is considered ethical only as long as any treatments are disclosed and their degree of permanence taken into account when pricing the gem. Listed below is a list of treatments that require disclosure by the Federal Trade Commission, some are not so eco-friendly:

• Bleaching (hydrogen peroxide, diluted acid, chlorine bleach)
• Cavity filling to seal cracks with glass or plastic
• Colorless impregnation of melted wax or plastic to fill the pores of a gem
• Chemicals or colored oils are used to add color or to deepen it
• Fracture filling to seal narrow breaks and improve clarity
• Irradiation
• Lattice diffusion 
• Sugar and smoke treatments

Gluing various backings, such as foil, fabrics, or even feathers, onto the undersides of stones is also a common practice to enhance color or give color where there was none. Coatings such as wax or varnish bring out the luster of porous stones. Painting is also used to improve a gem’s color. A little dab of nail polish on the underside of a gem can give an inexpensive colorless gem the appearance of a ruby.

Some treatments, such as heat and irradiation, are undetectable even by gemologists. Heat treatments can lighten, darken, or change the color of a gem entirely. Often, brilliant yellow, pink, and red diamonds are those that were originally a dull grey, but that have been treated for marketability.

It is ok to purchase a treated gem, but do so knowingly. Assume a colored gemstone is treated until proven otherwise.

Lab-created diamonds and gems are not treated as the rich color is inherent in the growth process. That is indeed one of the reasons why lab-grown gems are gaining in popularity.

[content provided by Fine Jewelry News]

Sapphires – a rainbow of (ethical) options

[Sapphires are a great alternative for consumers not wanting diamonds]

Sapphire, the September birthstone, was once believed to protect against envy. (Rubies, which are essentially red sapphires, were believed to attract and maintain love.)

Derived from the Greek word “sapphirus,” the word “sapphire” means blue, but the reality is that sapphires come in a whole spectrum of colors including yellow, pink, green and white. Next to diamonds, sapphires are the hardest gem stone making them ideal for engagement rings and every day wear. Though the white sapphires can be mistaken for diamonds, it is the vibrant colors that are attracting brides to be. (White sapphires lack the brilliance of the colored sapphires.)

Sources of sapphires are found virtually around the globe from the United States to Sri Lanka. In addition to fair-trade sapphires being available, so too are lab-grown sapphires, which are chemically and optically identical to their mined counterparts.

Fair-trade gems are those that are tracked from mine to market to ensure that they have been handled according to a set of protocols, which include environmental protection, fair labor practices, health and safety standards, and a tight chain of custody that reduces the possibility of treated gems being sold as natural.

Gems are often treated to be of a higher quality or color grade. When purchasing colored gems, be sure to find out if the stone you are considering has been treated. Natural stones are more rare and therefore more valuable.

Ethically sourced Namibian diamonds offer unparalleled beauty

Namibia, located in South Africa, hosts a population of approximately 1.8 million people, more than 50% of whom live below the international poverty line (less than $1.25 USD per day). The nation has suffered heavily from the effects of HIV/AIDS. In 2007, it was reported that 15% of the adult population was infected with HIV.

With an unemployment rate that hovers between 30-40%, it is easy to see why the mining industry, which accounts for 25% of Namibia’s revenue, is considered a necessary evil. Mining for uranium, lead, zinc, tungsten, silver and diamonds provide much needed economic stimuli.

The Kalahari Diamonds, introduced by Finesse Diamonds, are traced through the supply chain from mining to market. Each polished diamond is crafted entirely in Namibia, bringing opportunity to the people and communities from which the diamonds are harvested. A group of Namibian craftpersons, 50% of whom are women, shape each stone for maximum brilliance.

The ethically sourced Kalahari Diamonds offer consumers the opportunity to have beautifully crafted, genuine African diamonds while contributing to positive economic development in one of the world’s most impoverished nations.

Kimberley Process Failing – conflict widespread in diamond industry

“The Kimberley Process has been confronted by many challenges in the past five years, and it has failed to deal quickly or effectively with most of them: smuggling and fraud in Brazil, and issues of even greater importance in Côte d’Ivoire/Ghana, Guyana, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and now Guinea and Lebanon.”

The above is a quote from Ian Smillie, the driving force behind Partnership Africa-Canada (PAC), the immensely influential conflict diamonds NGO, who recently announced his departure from participation in the KP governing bodies. 

Ian is one of the founders and architects of the rough diamond certification  mechanism and has earned the respect and trust of all sides. “I am leaving Partnership Africa-Canada (PAC) because I feel that I can no longer in good faith contribute to a pretense that failure is success, or to the kind of debates we have been reduced to,” he says in a farewell letter to KP members. 

Read the full article on Diamond Intelligence Briefs, the online publication of Tacy Ltd, a strategic consultancy serving the stakeholders of the international diamond industry.

Ian’s announcement is an unfortunate blow to the sustainable jewelry movement.

Botswana and diamond dependency

“Botswana is on borrowed time if it does not wean itself off its diamond dependency.”

“Between 1966 and 1997 Botswana recorded an average annual growth rate of 9.2 percent, the highest in the world, but at the price of being the world’s most diamond-dependent economy.”

These are quotes from an article posted to World News Journal discussing the impact of the diamond industry on sustainable development in Botswana. While the industry is responsible for providing jobs and funding education and health care, is the country’s growth, which is largely a result of the diamond indutry, really sustainable? And do the positive impacts of the industry out weigh the negative?