Jewelry PR Division

Most people are unaware of the role diamonds play in bringing real benefits to people in the countries around the world where diamonds are sourced. Nowhere is this more evident than in Africa. It is also in Africa that this same resource has been used to fund conflict. In 2000, a coalition of governments, non-governmental organizations and the diamond industry worked together to address this issue. In 2002, they established the Kimberley Process Certification System, a UN-backed process that has virtually eliminated the trade in conflict diamonds. Today, over 99% of the world's supply of diamonds is from sources free of conflict. Diamondfacts.org is dedicated to presenting the facts about conflict diamonds, along with how diamonds are driving economic growth and prosperity in countries around the world. Please, Learn more about buying diamonds from sources free from conflict, and about the important role diamonds play in many developing economies. Download More Information.

Fact #1: An estimated 5 million people have access to appropriate healthcare globally thanks to revenues from diamonds.

Fact #2: Conflict diamonds have been reduced from approximately 4% to considerably less than 1% since the implementation of the Kimberley Process in 2003.

Fact #3: An estimated 10 million people globally are directly or indirectly supported by the diamond industry.

Blood Diamond, the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio with several Academy Award nominations today, is based on the violent civil war in the 1990’s in Sierra Leone in which the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels attempted to overthrow the government, and an illicit diamond trade was used to fund the war effort. The movie has brought attention to the diamond trade and many times what is involved in mining diamonds that are the most sought-after gem in the world.

So it’s no surprise that there are laboratories out there, such as Apollo Diamonds and Gemesis, that are perfecting on creating real diamonds in a lab setting. Not your typical chemically produced Cubic Zirconia, but diamonds created through a process involving real diamond seeds that come together under pressure to create a diamond that matches or exceeds a mined diamond in quality and brilliance. Same natural diamond, only it takes 2 weeks to produce one in a lab setting versus billions of years in the earth. Obviously it is also much safer to create than the risks involved in mining and what it does to our environment.

Creating and mimicking what is real is nothing new. It’s in how man-made products are taking its toll on the industries that produce the real deal. Cultured Pearls are almost indistinguishable to the naked eye compared to its natural counterpart. Fake fur, really well produced pieces, can often be mistaken for the real thing. While the industry that brings you the real products is beginning to feel its effects, it tries to counteract the new demand for man made quality copies by stressing the importance and value on their non-synthetic product.