How to choose an engagement ring: ethics

Scar on the landscape: a Canadian diamond mine

Ethics formed a considerable part of the selection process for me. It was not only something that was significant on a personal level, but something that I knew would be important to my girlfriend (now fiancée) as well.

Everyone has heard of the term 'blood diamond' and it was certainly foremost in my mind when I started looking at engagement rings. I felt very uncomfortable with the idea that, by buying a diamond ring, I could be contributing to bloodshed in Africa.

However, as I researched further, I realised that conflict diamonds are far from the only consideration the conscientious consumer has to bear in mind, as I will now explain.

Conflict/blood diamonds

Conflict diamonds are defined by the UN as those "that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognised governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the [UN] Security Council". In essence, they are gems that are used to finance wars.

Working on the principal that there are very few people who aren't concerned by this, those involved in the diamond industry have attempted to put consumers at ease with something called the Kimberley Process.

The scheme was established in 2003 with the noble and quite necessary aim of eradicating conflict diamonds by requiring governments of gem-producing nations to regulate the industry.

However, while many retailers will delight in telling you their products are Kimberley certified, others with less vested interests warn that the scheme has largely been a failure; with diamonds simply smuggled out of conflict zones into neighbouring countries for certification.

In December 2011, Charmian Gooch, a founding director of Global Witness, had this to say about the situation: "Nearly nine years after the Kimberley Process was launched, the sad truth is that most consumers still cannot be sure where their diamonds come from, nor whether they are financing armed violence or abusive regimes."

This is obviously a worrying statement for us buyers and raises the question of whether you can trust the history of any diamonds originating from Africa.

I personally didn't feel I could and began to look for alternatives.

As it turns out, Africa is not the only continent where diamonds exist. In fact, there are large deposits in developed nations such as Russia and Canada.

Clearly, these countries are not beset by civil war, which eliminates any worries about the flawed Kimberley Process, so I assumed it was a case of problem solved. However, as I said, blood diamonds are far from the only ethical sticking point when it comes to buying an engagement ring.

The environment

While I came across a number of retailers touting Canada as an ethical choice from a conflict diamond standpoint, it unfortunately seemed to fall down on environmental impact.

MiningWatch Canada first alerted me to the issue: "[Canadian] mines are often built in environmentally fragile ecosystems, have significant ecological footprints and will significantly impact upon the caribou, wolverine, bears, ptarmigan and fish.

"Exploration and mining distort and disrupt the cultural and social lives of Aboriginal peoples and the regional economy, and very few of the financial benefits from the mines return to the people who suffer most of the impacts."

So not only have Canadian mines apparently damaged the eco system, they have also impacted negatively on the indigenous people. At this point in my research, I was beginning to give up hope of ever finding an ethical diamond, but could Russia provide the answer?

From Russia With Love?

It was about this point in my research that I realised something very important: there is no such thing as an 'ethical diamond', or any piece of mined jewellery for that matter - from the gold that is used to make the bands to the stones that sit on top of them.

Whether damaging the environment through the creation of the pit or the use of toxic materials to get the gems out, displacing local people or exploiting workers, or even funding wars, mining is a dirty business.

What you have to weigh up is how much you want the real deal (a beautiful natural stone which was created millions of years ago) versus getting the next best thing (a synthetic lab-made diamond or a wooden band).

In the end, I decided to try to find the most ethical possible diamond ring I could.

This, for me, meant a Russian diamond. Although there is no doubt that the country's main mine at Mirny is quite a scar on the landscape (you'll come across stories of helicopters being sucked into it), the mining firm has actually closed the open pit and started digging underground, so no more external damage is being done.

It also appears that, as detailed in this BBC report, the miners are paid fairly and the local community is supported by the mining company.

Conclusions

At the end of the day, you ultimately have to decide what you are comfortable with. I personally felt I had been a lot more conscientious than the average consumer who simply walks into a store and says "I'll take that one".

After doing my research, I decided I couldn't trust the Kimberley Process and I didn't like the way indigenous people in Canada had suffered, but I felt I could live with buying a certified Russian diamond that was polished in Europe and not in an Indian sweat shop by a child labourer (yes, that's another issue with diamonds).

It's one of those things where you try to tell yourself that your choice won't make a difference to a multi-million pound industry. However, if everyone stopped buying African diamonds then producers would have to start adhering properly to the Kimberley Process and Africa would be a better place for it.

However, as consumers, I also feel that we can only know so much and therefore ultimately we end up having to place our faith in retailers and producers. It's a shame that many of them seem to lack the ethics of many of their customers.

Hopefully, I haven't put you off too much and hope you enjoy my upcoming blog: How much should I spend on an engagement ring?