A quarter of all marriage proposals happen in the six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's, and most of those involve a diamond ring. Diamond sales finance civil wars around the world, and in some regions diamond mining involves horrific abuse, mutilations and murder. How hard is it to find (or define) a truly 'conflict-free' diamond? Our contributors, Beth Kobliner and Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, join us. Beth has some advice for Ibrahim, who is in the market for the right ring for his fiancée.
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Comments [3]
My now-husband and I are both scientists. He knows that I am not that big into jewelry, so to propose, he had a ring made with science! The diamonds were made in a Massachusetts lab using a process called chemical vapor deposition (CVD). I think the lab was called Apollo Diamonds. This completely appealed to the nerd in me :)
how about
"The Challenge of Finding a Diamond-Free Marriage"
Diamonds are more fungible than cash. At least bills have serial numbers. If you want to avoid conflict diamonds, forget diamonds. The diamond engagement ring is nothing more than a 100 year old marketing scheme created by the diamond industry and embraced by American women who always measure their material haves with the haves of their braggadocios girl friends. "My man loves me 2 carats. Yeah well my man loves me more with 4 carats". Forget diamonds as an investment. A mutual fund is an investment. Oh, and in case you missed 60 Minutes last night can Ibrahim be sure his gold is not from the Congo? Don't drink DeBeers the Cool-Aid.
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