What are “blood diamonds”?
Since ancient times, the diamonds are considered as one of the finest source of opulence and luxury. Hence, greed and gluttony has always been attached with the extraction of these sparkling stones that led to the commitment of a series of heinous crimes like murder, rape, etc. Later on, the funds gathered from dealing in diamonds were also used to purchase the arms and ammunitions that fueled the civil war and terrorism in many countries. The blood-shed and massacre that occurred due to the diamonds destroyed millions of families and lives over the years that tainted the origin of the diamonds and the diamonds acquired from illegal sources with tarnished background earned the name of “blood diamonds”. We at Fascinating Diamonds®, along with the world diamond industry, have no tolerance particularly for conflict diamonds or also called “Blood Diamonds”. In order to guarantee that diamonds reaching the market are free from conflict and mined under ethical conditions from government controlled areas, certain policies have been put forward by various governments and recognized organizations.
What are conflict free diamonds?
Conflict free diamonds are the natural diamonds that are derived from ethical source. Such diamonds are not attained or are in union with child labor, unlawful practices, questionable sources, human rights violence, or any kind of environmental hazards. In order to guarantee that diamonds reaching the market are free from conflict and mined under ethical conditions from government controlled areas, certain policies have been put forward by various governments and recognized organizations. Though it’s not mandatory to buy conflict free diamonds but it is our moral responsibility to purchase diamonds that are not marked with somebody’s blood. Conflict free diamonds are mined by workers who are paid fair wages and work under safe and secured condition. Also child labor is strictly restricting in such diamond mines. Under all these strict surveillance, natural conflict free diamonds are derived.
What necessary steps have been taken to eradicate the sale of blood diamonds?
In order to protect the legal trade in African diamonds and make sure diamonds can never again fund conflict or war, the Kimberley Process must require that participating governments have effective diamond control systems in place that include thorough checks on the diamond industry. The diamond industry should be required to put meaningful systems in place to support the aims of the Kimberley Process. Strict measures should be taken to control systems in all participating countries to ensure that consumers can get adequate assurances that diamonds are conflict-free no matter where they are from. The diamond industry must follow the commitments they made to stop trade of conflict diamonds and expose those individuals and companies that are breaking the law.
What is KPCS?
In 2003, the United Nations introduced an international certification program called the "Kimberley Process Certification System" (KPCS) to prevent the illegitimate usage of conflict diamonds that is often related to the funding of war and other heinous crimes. This process maintains a constant vigilance against blood diamonds by tracking the source of every diamond that is being traded. Now, almost 99% of the diamonds available, comply with the Kimberley Process.
How does KPCS work?
To put a complete stop on the illicit traffic of diamonds, KPCS has implemented some stern measures. A careful watch is set on the whole process of retrieving the diamonds starting from the initial mining to the retail sale of the diamonds in order to prevent the diamonds from the conflict sources from entering in the legal diamond supply chain. A list of all the strict measures taken by KPCS helps in reducing the dealing of blood diamonds, some of which are mentioned below:
How is Fascinating Diamonds® associated with it?
At Fascinating Diamonds® we are doing our bit to make sure that our prized customers buy from us with total reliability and a peaceful mind. As a conscientious member of the jewelry and diamond industry we hold fast all ethical standards and make conscious efforts to ensure that our diamonds are acquired from reliable sources and for that we abide by thorough and stringent procurement procedures. We value our buyer’s concern that they hold regarding their precious diamonds and we share the same concern with you. Hence, in Fascinating Diamonds®, only natural conflict free diamonds along with the Kimberly Process Certification System is used. We stick to our promise of being a genuine online diamond company, one that sources diamonds from an ethical source and for that matter keeps on reviewing our diamonds’ authenticity from time to time.