Diamond Industry - The big picture - Mining to Mine

DIAMONDFACTS.ORG and the World Diamond Council compiled this fact sheet for media use. It's an overview of the diamond pipeline, the process that starts with removing the stones from deep within the earth and ends with a beautiful finished piece of jewelry. I think you'll find it to be an interesting read.

http://www.diamondfacts.org/pdfs/media/media_resources/fact_sheets/Diamond_Industry_Fact_Sheet.pdf

What is a Rose Cut Diamond?

Rose cut stones were popular in Europe in the 1500's and are enjoying renewed popularity today. The most notable feature of this cut is the stone's flat, or near flat bottom. Picture a low gumdrop with facets cut into the top. The facets start from the center of the stone and spread outward, usually in multiples of 6 appearing like a rose opening up. Although this is an old style cut and antique rose cut diamonds can be found, the majority of what is available today is not antique.

Personally, I love Rose cut diamonds. Their shimmery large surfaces and thin profiles offer lots of great design possibilities but there are a some limitations too. Here's a quick overview...

Shapes- Rose Cuts can be found in round, oval, pear, triangular and irregular shapes. Most are flat on the bottom and faceted on top. Some are very thin and faceted on top and bottom.

Color- Full spectrum of D Colorless on down and also in Fancy Colors. For more on this see the 4C's post.

Optics- Because rose cut stones are shallow, colorless Diamonds larger than about 2mm become transparent in open back prong settings. Light travels right through them and this is why larger stones are usually placed in closed back bezels. For added brilliance a shiny piece of foil is often placed inside the bezel and under the stone (a little jewelers' trick). Colored rose cuts work beautifully in prong settings with open backs because they are less transparent.

Size Perception- This is where it gets interesting...... Rose cut diamonds give the appearance of being much larger than they are because of their large surface area.

Rose Cut diamonds offer a big of bang for the buck. Just give some thought to type of setting you use taking into account the shade, clarity and size of the stone.

Rapaport Diamond Conference 2009

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:

Amnesty International

World Diamond Council

Rapaport Fair Trade

Human Rights Watch

Diamonds - The 4 C's

Selecting a diamond for the first time can be bewildering. The tangle of information, investment and the emotional charge, if it is for and Engagement ring, can make it feel more complicated than it is. I will try to make it as simple as possible.

The Gemological Institute of America is a super reliable source for information. Please read about the 4C's on their site to learn about how the relationship of Color(whiteness), Clarity(number of inclusions), Cut(proportionally, not style) and Carat(overall weight) define the quality and value of a stone.

click here: GIA - About the 4C's

Ok, now that you know the basics, consider which characteristics are most important to you given your budget. Do you want the largest stone possible or would you sacrifice size for a white white diamond? Its a trade-off. As an extreme example, for a similar investment, you can but a .25 carat D color Flawless stone or a full carat M color I3 (very included) diamond. Fortunately, there are also many other choices in the middle.