Ethically sourced Namibian diamonds compete against traditionally mined diamonds

C5 company uses only ethically sourced or lab-created diamonds in our jewelry. Our diamonds, whether Namibian or not, are traced from mine to market thereby providing customers with peace of mind that their diamond is not marked by the same negative impacts of traditionally mined diamonds.

Many of the diamonds we use come from Finesse Diamonds. Under CEO Alex Twersky, Finesse Diamonds is leading the field in ethical sourcing.

“Doing good is more expensive. To support that, consumers need to pay more, but they don’t want to. The ethical trend will catch on…”

Read the interview with Alex on Fairjewelry.org conducted by Marc Choyt.

Sign petition to stop blood diamonds from Zimbabwe

See alert below from Avaaz, an international nonprofit organization working to inform global decision making by sharing the voice of the disadvantaged.

“Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe has brutally seized control of his country’s diamond fields and is using the profits from our precious wedding rings and jewelry to finance a vicious political militia.

All diamond producing countries know that their profits are dependent on the brand reputation of diamonds, and that increasing awareness of ‘blood diamonds’ threatens that brand. A massive global petition will show them that the diamond-buying public is demanding action.

Zimbabwe’s diamonds used to be mined by local people. But in the last several months, Mugabe’s thugs have brutally taken over, murdering up to 200 civilians. An international investigation in July found ‘horrific violence against civilians.’

The profits from these blood diamonds are being used to finance a political militia that has already killed thousands of Zimbabweans, and threatens the fragile unity government in the country. Letting Mugabe keep these diamonds could finance a whole new war.”

Sign the petition now!

Read more about Zimbabwe’s political crisis.

 

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.

New Report Confirms Failure of Kimberley Process

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), the body created to give consumers peace of mind that conflict diamonds were not reaching the market, has failed.

A new report released by Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) states that the failure of the KPCS is not caused by warlords, but by the governments at the center of the KPCS’ administration that refuse to crack down on smuggling, human right abuses and money laundering.

Accountability is cited as the primary reason why KPCS has been unsuccessful.

The report specifically identifies the massacre of more than 200 diamond diggers in Zimbabwe that should have resulted in the country losing its KPCS status, but that was largely ignored by the organization.

Read full article on National Jeweler here.

Debate about ‘Fair Trade Gems’ continues

In his article titled “Columbia Gem House Attempts to Trade-Mark “Fair Trade Gems, ” author Marc Choyt writes:

“‘Fair Trade Gems’ has the potential to be as big a market driver as fair trade coffee has become within ten to twenty years.  If any one company monopolizes the trademark for this term, it will become an irreparable hindrance to growth and prosperity in some of the poorest villages in the world. The open-inclusive option is a far-better choice for everyone involved in the ethical sourcing community.”

Though Columbia Gem House is widely respected for their pioneering work in bringing ethically sourced gems to the market, it would be counter to the sustainable jewelry movement if they were awarded the exclusive rights to the term “fair trade gem.” It would significantly restrict the ability of other companies, also doing great work with regard to gem sourcing, to effectively bring their product to market, which will in turn hurt the artisanl miners. Columbia Gem House is not the only supplier of fair trade gems.

Read the full article now.

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

Fair-trade Jewelry – still no formal definition

Our good friend, Marc Choyt, at Reflective Images, an ethical jewelry company, recently published an article on AreaGreen.com where he provides insight for consumers into some of the challenges of bring fair-trade to the jewelry sector.

Marc makes several good points worth highlighting:

1. The existing models of fair-trade (eg. coffee) don’t really fit into the global jewelry framework.
2. Fair trade jewelry needs to go beyond the raw materials to include manufacturing.
3. Though “fair trade jewelry” is a commonly used term, there is no universal definition or formal certification.
4. Transparency is probably more relevant to conscious consumers than fair-trade designation.
5. There is a small community of passionate jewelry professionals (including Marc and me) who are involved in the efforts to bring third party cerfication to the jewelry industry.

Please read the full article.