Treehugger features Brilliant Earth

I've written about my engagement ring here before. It came from a San Francisco-based online-focused store called Brilliant Earth. They feature conflict-free diamonds from Canada (and apparently also now from Namibia), recycled gold and platinum and donate a portion of their proceeds to a charity focused on helping cleanup the mess that the blood diamond trade in Africa leaves behind.

I happened to get engaged, and we happened to find Brilliant Earth and design my ring, right around the time the movie Blood Diamond came out. Brilliant Earth was, understandably, in the press quite a bit for a little while, and they asked me if I would comment to media about why I chose them etc. Which I was glad to do. Ended up being quoted in both the LA Times and the SF Chronicle because of it.

Don't know why Brilliant Earth got on the radar again now, particularly, but I'm glad to see Treehugger cover them.

Also glad to see them focus on the recycled metals part of the BE offering...which is just as important, and probably has just as much impact, as the conflict-free diamonds.

I continue to maintain that eco-friendly and compassionate products have to function as well as the non- version, and they have to be as affordable. When such options exist...and when we send our consumer dollars consistently towards such options...thats when conscious shopping will go mainstream.

Comments

[Meghan]

C5 is a sustainable fine jewelry company that uses only recycled precious metals and ethically sourced gems (both fair-trade and lab-created). 5% of all profits goes to our nonprofit partner working directly with communities in Africa negatively impacted by the traditional jewelry industry.C5 specializes in custom jewelry that truly reflects your personality and values.

Wear Your Commitment.
www.C5company.com

[Brian]

I'm sorry, but this is kind of absurd. If you'd done a little research on Brilliant Earth, you'd see that their Namibian diamond source is De Beers - which controls all of the diamond mining in Namibia, and is hardly socially responsible, despite their "best practices" claims.

Brilliant Earth's two Canadian mines are "certified" by a Canadian industry group's voluntary "code of conduct". On top of that, the two mines in question are featured in a recent interview with Tracey Williams, trustee for the Canadian National Parks and Wilderness Society, who talks here about the social and environmental impacts of mining in the tundra, and of these two mines specifically.

Please do your research before you start promoting these 'socially responsible' jewelers.

http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=25304

[Eric]

At Brilliant Earth, we are constantly monitoring the social and environmental impacts of our gemstones and recycled precious metals in order to ensure that we provide the most responsible products. The Ekati and Diavik diamond mines in Canada have consistently been rated as having excellent environmental standards by their independent monitors and have been applauded by experts such as Kim Poole, a leading wildlife biologist who has spent over 5 years monitoring the mines and member of the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency (a public watchdog for environmental monitoring of the Ekati diamond mine). (http://www.fairjewelry.org/archives/176)

As part of our mission to help the diamond communities in Africa, we have been active proponents of a fair trade standard for diamonds. We have also been engaged in pilot programs for ethical sourcing of diamonds from Africa to promote development. One such program is focused on diamonds from Namibia which are mined, and polished in that country to ensure that the maximum economic benefit goes to the local communities. This is our first program with De Beers as the mining partner and we are glad to see this company take these historic steps toward greater transparency and responsibility, including paying fair wages, community development and no child labor. As with all pilot programs, we will continually monitor to ensure that the program remains consistent with our social mission.

While we recognize no practices are perfect, we will continue to look for more ways to push the envelope for ethically sourced diamond jewelry.