DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
2022 APRIL ISSUE
Written by Caroline Kopas
Ever since the diamond industry was created in India during the fourth century B.C., the precious gemstones have been endlessly sought after and fought over. Mined in the country’s rivers and streams, diamonds were flaunted by India’s upper class and nobility, and soon enough, following the trend of other “exotic” luxury items of the time, they made their way across Eurasia and into the hands of the European elite, who made the gem fashionable by the fifteenth century A.D.
For centuries India was the diamond capital of the world, and known as the only source of the gem. This monopoly meant the quick depletion of the material in the country, and by the early eighteenth century, it became clear that a new source of diamonds must arise. That new source was Brazil. Dominating the industry for over a century, diamonds were plentiful in the vast river systems of the country. The surplus of this precious gem only expanded the interest consumers had in buying them. And so the hearth of diamonds moved to South Africa with their discovery in Kimberley in the mid-nineteenth century. There, diamonds were mined by the exploited, imperialized, and enslaved.
In the 1870s, the annual production of rough diamonds was well under a million carats, and just over a century later, the figure surpassed 100 million carats per year.
This is a quick summary of the diamond industry, and how those little gemstones became a symbol of wealth, status, and engagement. The mines in Africa were made lucrative under companies that are mammoth names in the industry even today—De Beers, Alrosa, Rio Tinto—and sold in diamond hubs around the world—New York City, Tel Aviv, Antwerp, Dubai, Hong Kong, Mumbai.
The diamond industry flourished. Selling the gems at a price well above their worth and the growing relationships between the consumers with their marriage ensured high profits for all in the industry. But in recent years, however, the industry has experienced very little growth and revenues have actually declined. One of the big reasons for this decline is the growing awareness of the so-called “blood diamonds” and the increasing importance of sustainability and ethically sourced materials amongst younger consumers.
Blood diamonds, otherwise known as conflict diamonds, are defined by the United Nations (UN) as any diamond that is mined in areas controlled by forces opposed to the legitimate, internationally recognized government of a country and that is sold to fund military action against that government. Therefore, blood diamonds are chiefly issues in politically tumultuous African countries such as Angola, the Demo Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), and Sierra Leone. Rough diamonds mined and sold in rebel-controlled areas were merged into stocks of ethically mined diamonds and then sold on the open market. Proceeds from these sales would then be used to buy belligerent materials, such as arms, for the rebel groups. These rebel groups most of the time bring great violence and suffering to the people of their country.
To combat the prevalence of blood diamonds, the Kimberley Process was formed. In the words of their website, the Kimberley Process is “a multilateral trade regime established in 2003 with the goal of preventing the flow of conflict diamonds. The core of this regime is the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) under which States implement safeguards on shipments of rough diamonds and certify them as ‘conflict free.’”
The Kimberley Process, named after the South African city, did reduce the number of blood diamonds in the market. However, the document remained riddled with many loopholes and only presided over blood diamonds, not unethically sourced diamonds. The document was unable to stop blood diamonds from being sold in many warzones and does nothing to deal with the issues of child labor, slavery, and extremely hazardous working conditions in the mines.
In fact, the document is so limited in scope, that in 2008 when the Zimbabwean army seized a major diamond deposit in eastern Zimbabwe and massacred more than two hundred miners, it was not considered a breach of the Kimberley Process protocols. Also, many blood diamonds escape the Kimberley Process altogether. In the Central African Republic, where the Process has enacted a ban, diamonds have still helped fund a genocidal war. A U.N. panel of experts estimates that 140,000 carats of diamonds have been smuggled out of the country since it was suspended in May 2013, and therefore could have helped fund militant groups from $3.87 million to $5.8 million a year.
However, simply avoiding diamonds that come from countries with historical human rights violations (as the company Brilliant Earth does, buying the majority of their diamonds from Canada), could actually be detrimental. Although brutal, laborious, and oftentimes unethical, the work that occurs in Sub-Saharan African diamond mines puts food on the table for many families. In areas where there are very few ways to make money and where poverty is an unfortunate reality, diamond mines are what is keeping people from starvation. According to the DR Congo’s Ministry of Mines, nearly ten percent of the population relies on income from diamonds. That’s nearly nine million people that could suffer severe consequences if the diamond industry in their country is put at a standstill by the ethical consumer. Not only this, but it remains very hard for even experts to tell a diamond’s origin in the first place. Determining whether a diamond was ethically sourced or not can be near impossible.
It certainly is a complex situation with no apparent answer.
Major countries in worldwide industrial diamond mine production from 2010 to 2020 (in million carats) – statista.com
On the other side of ethically-sourced diamonds, many are turning to a new-age solution—lab diamonds. According to MVI Marketing, 70% of the millennial generation is moving away from conventional diamonds and considering lab-grown alternatives. While naturally-forming diamonds are created over billions of years (predating the dinosaurs by billions!) and are found in mother nature, lab diamonds can materialize within twelve weeks. They are physically, chemically, and visually identical to their natural-occurring counterparts.
In fact, according to MVI Marketing, seventy percent of the millennial generation (ages 26-41) are moving away from conventional diamonds and considering lab-grown alternatives.
Lab diamonds are grown replicating the natural processes that create diamonds found in the earth. Carbon is subjected to high temperatures and high pressure in a controlled environment, creating a diamond.
Also, lab diamonds are more environmentally friendly than mined diamonds. Diamond mining has a high environmental impact because between 88,000 and 176,000 pounds of dirt must be sifted through to find a single 1-carat diamond. And natural diamonds are also finite. Consumers concerned with sustainability might turn to lab diamonds because they are renewable. Also, not only is it easier to ensure that lab diamonds are ethically sourced than mined diamonds, but they also tend to be cheaper than mined diamonds.
As a matter of fact, diamond sales, in general, are decreasing and will most likely continue to. Younger people are coming to a greater understanding that diamonds have only value because people say they have value. They are not rare like many believe, and many cheaper gemstones that are just as pretty, if not prettier as diamonds. There has been a trend in recent years of buying non-diamond engagement rings, and instead opting for more colorful and less-expensive gems like sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.
Overall, diamond production and its capitalistic consumership, especially that of mined diamonds, have followed a continuous downward trend. In the future, I have no doubt this trend will continue to hold true. With greater awareness of human rights violations in diamond minds and less of a care for social pressures, alternatives to mine diamonds are only going to become more plentiful.
Diamonds might last forever, but the industry won’