Fair Trade Diamonds??

[killerqueen17]

I'm really torn in my search for an e-ring.

On one hand, I have always been sort of turned off to the whole diamond thing. I'm concerned about issues of justice in the diamond mining industry, where many miners are paid sub-poverty wages and subject to terrible working conditions. I don't really want another kind of gem, either. I don't really want a colored stone on my e-ring, and also other gems are mined under similar situations as diamonds.

So I've been looking at a lot of rings with a Celtic pattern, and no stone (palladium is my metal of choice). Sometimes I like them a lot, because the patterns are very pretty, and they compliment me and SO's heritage... but then sometimes I get worried that I'll regret choosing such a non-traditional style.

Suffice it to say that I don't really know what I want, and it's getting frustrating. To make matters more complicated, price is definitely an issue for me and my SO.

I have heard talk of fair trade diamonds... are there any current vendors who sell fair trade, or is this something that's still in development? Also, I did run across one vendor (Brilliant Earth) that specialized in Canadian diamonds, which seemed like an interesting idea. Does anybody know of any other good resources for confused little me?

 

[JulieN]

can''t compare fair trade goods to diamonds.

there is no integrated supply chain.

there are no mines owned by miners.

 

[oldmancoyote]

Couple of semi-random ideas on the topic:

1. If fair trade diamonds are the same as fair trade food... well, be careful. Most so-called fair-trade labels are an excuse for charging a premium of 20-50% but only about 1-2% higher prices to the producer. Not that this isn''t good - every little helps, and 1-2% of the final retail price often equates to 20-30% of the buying price, but I''m greatly annoyed at being taken for a ride so I won''t buy "fair trade" coming at a significant premium if I can help it, and I''d rather give directly to people that need help. Still on this subject: bear in mind that sometimes - only sometimes - the ones that have a job in the mines are the lucky ones, and a poverty wage in the developed countries may be perfectly acceptable remuneration in other places

2. As well as Canada, consider Australia. Go for a pink diamond! (AFAIK they are only mined in Australia - mind the prices, though)

3. How about an estate piece?