I recently attended the Rapaport Diamond Conference here in NYC. It was hosted by NY Diamond industry legend, Martin Rapaport. You may be familiar with him from his 2008 documentary, Diamond Road. The annual full day symposium was packed with compelling lectures by experts in the diamond industry business as well as directors of non-for profit human rights groups and Government representatives.
By far the hottest topic was the afternoon panel discussion on human rights violations in mining. The Kimberly Process came under fire - it was created to eliminate civil warfare where diamond profits are used to fund illegal rebel military and terrorist groups. The purpose of the KP is to document and track all rough diamonds leaving and entering a participating country. Stones from these countries are sealed in tamper-proof shipping crates and are accounted for with detailed information about origin to prove they did not originate in a conflict zone.
The KP is not a perfect solution and long term goals take time to achieve. I believe that having the Kimberly Process in place is a step in the right direction but not the ultimate answer. A central authority, strict peer review process with follow-up and more transparency are essential. Specifically, human rights violations at the Marange mine in Zimbabwe are alarming and need to be addressed. Although the vast majority of participant countries are in compliance with KP, when violators are not dismissed it undermines the ultimate power of the pact.
So, what's a compassionate consumer and jewelry designer to do?
The jewelry industry is consumer driven and our collective voices carry weight. While it's difficult to make big changes on a global scale here are some small things we can do:
-Use antique stones. I liken this to adopting a rescue dog as opposed to supporting puppy-mills by buying puppies in pet shops. Like with rescue dogs, we don't know the origin of a stone but we can rest assured knowing that by adopting and long ago mined stone we are not contributing to any present day human rights violations. There are charming antique stones available, at no additional cost. They can often be identified by their Old Mine or European cuts. I'll write more about this in a future post.
-Buy new stones from reputable sources
-Press for more transparency in mining and distribution. If we can track our car being manufactured step by step why shouldn't we be able to trace where a stone was mined and cut? I believe that this will be more possible in the future, just wanted to plant the seed here.
-Learn about and support vital organizations. Here are a few:
A shout out to my fellow artists and friends who meet on Wednesday mornings to share ideas and inspire each other. Some weeks are more inspiring than others but I cherish coming every week - even if I haven't done my homework. This morning we were bidding farewell to Laura shortly before her move to Atlanta.
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