http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17990476

Blood diamonds – also called conflict diamonds – were once kept almost completely out of the US diamond market by the Kimberley Process. However, with the Process’ recent failings, more and more are finding their way into the mainstream supply of gemstones.

The Kimberley Process is voluntary and self-regulating. It monitors the diamond industry by placing labels on diamond shipments, certifying that these diamonds are conflict-free. This is meant to guarantee buyers that the diamonds they are getting are not financing human rights violations.

Unfortunately, there has been something of a problem and blood diamonds are finding their way into the hands of people who would otherwise never purchase them.

Diamond fields in Marange, Zimbabwe are the main source of these conflict diamonds right now. Hundreds of people – adults and children being held prisoner to work in these diamond mines – have been killed under the military supervision put in place by Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe.

The diamonds coming from this area are funding Mugabe’s regime. Not only this, but the prisoners are enduring torture, including beatings, dog attacks, and sexual assault.

All 49 members of the Kimberley Process must reach consensus over each diamond shipment before the diamonds in that shipment can be certified. Because of the human rights violations surrounding the Marange diamond fields, there have been restrictions over the diamonds shipped out from the area. However, despite disagreements among the members, diamonds are now being shipped out that do not comply with the Process’ guidelines because the president of the Process, Mathieu Yamba, has authorized shipments independently.

Jewelers and buyers the world over rely on the Process to make sure that they diamonds they are receiving and passing on to customers are not blood diamonds. With the failure of the Kimberley Process, however, there is a bit of a kink in this.

This means that jewelers as well as buyers have to step up and take responsibility for the diamonds that they sell and purchase to ensure that they are not feeding funds into Mugabe’s political machine. It can be difficult to tell a fair trade diamond from a conflict diamond, but there are some ways to avoid accidentally buying blood diamonds.

How to Avoid Buying Blood Diamonds

First and foremost, do some research into the retailer that you will be buying from. Only make purchases through trusted jewelry stores and retailers that have great reputations. Even if you know that they have a great reputation, ask questions.

They should be comfortable answering any questions that you have when you tell them why you are asking. If they cannot answer your questions, refuse to, or appear uncomfortable with their answers, do not buy from them. Ask for a written guarantee that the diamond you are purchasing is conflict-free – if they refuse or cannot do so, the possibility of the gem being a blood diamond is much higher.

Ask to see the invoices that the retailer obtained from their diamond suppliers. You should be able to find out exactly where the diamond you are considering purchasing was mined from. If it was mined in Zimbabwe, Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, or Congo, do not buy it. If anything about the invoices or documentation seems off, the jeweler cannot answer all of your questions satisfactorily, or you just feel uncomfortable, go elsewhere.

Keep in mind that there are many diamond sellers out there who will have nothing to do with blood diamonds. As long as buyers exercise caution and know how to tell the good diamonds from the bad, there is no reason to stave off purchasing them.  The only way to determine that is to make sure that your dealer can give you a chain of custody with the diamond, from the mine all the way to his store.

If people are more careful about the diamonds that they purchase, it will encourage your local jewelry to support the best efforts in ethical diamond production.

Aurelie Sinclair is a former jewelry store owner who now loves to share information about her passion by blogging. She has been a longtime advocate of conflict-free diamonds and encourages people to buy their diamonds from trusted suppliers and other ethically responsible retailers.

The content of this article represents the views of the author only and should not be taken as a statement of Fair Jewellery Actions perspective or opinion.

FJA is pleased to announce that East Fourth Street Jewelers has become the latest jeweler to join our network.

Modern, chic jewelry designed and handmade from recycled and ethically sourced precious metals, diamonds and gemstones. Rings, wedding rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets designed to be beautiful, sustainable and eco-luxurious.

http://www.eastfourthstreet.com

info@eastfourthstreet.com

Nobody wants to look at jewellery and feel pangs of guilt but there’s no denying that the industry has a poor record when it comes to ethics with everything from blood diamonds to dirty gold and environmental destruction on the charge sheet. What’s more, according to Ethical Metalsmiths, although metal mining only employs 0.9 per cent of the global workforce, it consumes 10 per cent of the world’s energy. ‘Mining is the most environmentally damaging industry in the world, and jewellery is 100 per cent dependent on mined products,’ says Greg Valerio, co-founder of Fair Jewellery Action(FJA) and founder of CRED Jewellery. But does that mean you have to give up bijoux entirely? Well, no. But you do need to know what to look out for.

Gold
Jewellery, according to the Fairtrade Foundation, accounts for around 50 per cent of global demand for gold. But there’s a plus side to its popularity and the yellow metal has become the first jewellery component to get Fairtrade certification. Figures released by the Fairtrade Foundation show that artisan and small-scale (ASM) miners sometimes receive as little as 70 per cent of the internationally agreed price of gold. Along with paying fair prices to workers, in order to be certified, mines must minimise the use of chemicals such as mercury and cyanide to extract the gold from ore. Along with low-chemical gold, there is also Fairtrade and Fairmined Ecological Gold….

‘To read more about Fair Jewellery Action in The Ecologist click here The Ecologist 

She finds inspiration for her jewellery from the minimalist form and detail found in the built environment. Trained as an architect in New York and London, her designs explore beauty in simple geometries.

All her pieces are handcrafted out of sterling silver, Fairtrade and Fairmined gold, and hand selected gemstones. These precious materials, combined with sleek design and fine craftsmanship, make her pieces striking, versatile, and elegant.

She blogs at http://amandalihope.blogspot.co.uk/ and  collections can be found at www.amandalihope.com

The Marange diamond district of Zimbabwe has been the site of numerous human rights violations.  The Kimberley Process Certification of these diamonds has been very controversial among jewelers around the world leading to a loss of confidence in the protection The Kimberley Certification claims to give jewelers.

In this interview, conducted by Mike Angenent founder of the JewelTree Foundation,  we hear from Mr. Marange.  He is an engineer trained in Germany, and he represents indigenous people who live in the area.  Mr. Marange has a positive vision of the diamond mining for his people, but discusses how he has not been consulted by the national government or international organizations.

See view the interview see the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMWxPQlMPPg&feature=context&context=C45e9af0ADvjVQa1PpcFOAo7NKjrpxQhRjlLnM9GW5qNrr6b9-BDY=

This feels very like the early days, when we received our first shipment of Gold from Oro Verde. To reiterate, this is the first legal export of gold from the hands of an artisanal gold COOP in the history of Kenya. All very exciting.

We have so much work and planning to do if we are to realise our dream of certified Fairtrade Gold from Africa, but given the last ten years of experience in developing traceable supply chains in gold to the jewellery market, I am confident we will do a much better job than we did in the past.

So well done to everyone at The MICA Coop and CRED Jewellery, another piece of history. Crickey I even had a book offer yesterday, so I shall start planning the chapter on ‘The fight for African gold that benefits Africa’

This is a very significant step, as there is now a registered ASM Gold Coop, with an export license, with an international customer. Critical foundations for building a Fairtrade process in Africa.

Humorously, Julius the manager of the COOP told me he had to sit through a one hour lecture by the Commissioner who signed off the export on why the success of the Coop was critical to the development of the mineral sector in Kenya.

There are many more steps to take before we can secure the goal of ‘Africa’s first certified Fairtrade Fairmined gold Coop’, but with a commercial pipeline in place we are now in motion.

But anyway good news all round, considering the problems we had at the back end of last year.

Highlights  for Fairtrade and Fairmined gold jewellery’s first year included bespoke commissions which adorned the fingers of TV presenter, radio DJ and model Lisa Snowdon and Livia Firth as part of her Green Carpet Challenge at the 2011 Oscars.

The Fairtrade Foundation, which certifies the gold, announce that 350kg per year of gold will soon be available to jewellers, with more to follow.  In the first year of trading, four gold mining organisations have become certified and an additional two are currently going through the inspection process and will enter the system in May.

The Fairtrade Foundation reports that sales of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold bullion reached  an estimated £700,000 in 2011.

People living in the isolated Peruvian community of Santa Filomena have already reaped the benefits Sotrami, the first Peruvian mining organisation to be certified, began working with Cred Jewellery. Thanks to the Fairtrade premium, the community invested in healthcare, built an extension to the primary school and bought computers for the senior school. They opened a not-for-profit convenience store which means the 500-strong community can buy food at reasonable prices.

Retailers and jewellers say customers have responded positively to the gold, indicating that businesses will continue to expand their commitment to Fairtrade’s model of ethical sourcing. Fairtrade and Fairmined gold jewellery commissions have adorned the fingers of TV presenter, radio DJ and model Lisa Snowdon and Livia Firth as part of her Green Carpet Challenge at the Oscars this year.

And supplies of gold are set to increase further. Thanks to a grant of £820,318 from Comic Relief over the next three years, the Fairtrade Foundation will be partnering with Fairtrade Africa, the Alliance for Responsible Mining and Solidaridad to develop gold supplies from artisanal and small-scale miners in Africa.

Mining in Africa often involves unsafe use of mercury, deforestation, poor working conditions and child labour. The programme will work with eight mining groups in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to develop their technical skills to improve hazardous working conditions. Training will also concentrate on eliminating child labour and the democratic organisation of the mining groups. This will mean that gold mined by impoverished African artisanal and small- scale miners can get into international markets through transparent supply chains.

The project aims to raise consumers’ awareness of the challenges faced by the African miners as well as influencing the international public policy agenda, through the development of a network of civil society and local governments.

Fairtrade Foundation Business Development Manager Victoria Waugh says:  ‘We are very excited to celebrate the anniversary of the world’s first responsibly mined gold and are delighted that Comic Relief are making this hugely significant investment which gives a real opportunity to some of the world’s poorest miners in Africa.

‘Through the financial and developmental benefits of Fairtrade – including additional premium, pre-finance and long-term business relations with traders – even more producers have a chance to lift themselves out of poverty and create sustainable livelihoods for their families and communities.

‘We’re calling on the jewellery industry to support artisanal miners by choosing to source certified gold for their business, and consumers to take a step for gold miners by buying jewellery pieces marked with the Fairtrade and Fairmined dual stamp.’

The Fairtrade Foundation is currently working with 40 jewellers, almost double since the launch, and has licensed 591 individual jewellery pieces plus several entire collections.  New companies which have come on board since the launch include Cool Diamonds, Charles Green, Anna Loucah, Steven Einhorn, Samantha Salmons, Jessica Poole, Hattie Rickards, Dale Aldington-Hunt, Oak Fine Jewellery, September Rose, Melville Fine Jewellery, Arabel Lebrusan, Kaanaanmaa, Pravins, Diana Porter Jewellery, Alex Monroe, Lynsey Pluck, Regal Jewellery, Erica Sharpe, Good as Gold and Vipa Designs. Anna Loucah Fine Jewellery designed the first Fairtrade and Fairmined gold to be seen on the Oscars red carpet in 2011, and will launch initial pieces from her new ‘Sacred’ collection during Fairtrade Fortnight 2012 with the full collection, including engagement rings, planned for later in the year.  Made from Fairtrade and Fairmined ecological gold with diamonds, the pieces have a geometric feel and feature kinetic elements. www.annaloucah.com.

Pioneering Fairtrade licensee Cred Jewellery has signed an exclusive manufacturing and licensing partnership with British bridal jewellery manufacturer Brown & Newirth.  Their Fairtrade and Fairmined gold wedding rings were launched at The Jewellery Show this month, and will be available under both the Cred and Brown & Newirth brand names. www.credjewellery.com

Specialist diamond jewellery brand, Cool Diamonds is now offering customers the choice of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold when ordering designs in store and through their website www.cooldiamonds.com.

Wedding ring and jewellery manufacturer Charles Green have created an 18 carat bridal collection in Fairtrade and Fairmined gold.  The range includes engagement rings with matching ‘wed fit’ plain and diamond set wedding rings.  www.charles-green.com.

The Fairtrade Foundation plans to build consumer awareness of Fairtrade and Fairmined gold over the coming year and will help consumers better understand why buying jewellery made from Fairtrade and Fairmined gold for a special occasion holds greater value and significance.

Estimated UK retail sales of all Fairtrade products in 2011 reached £1.32bn, a 12% increase on sales of £1.17bn in 2010.