One Voice

My attitude and lust for diamonds has indeed changed. To be honest, at first I was a little bitter about the fact that I was pushed out of my bubble and had to look at diamonds in a completely different way than i used to. I will never be able to look at a diamond again without thinking of the people of Africa and wondering where that stone came from. But thank goodness I am no longer ignorant of this problem. I can still enjoy the beauty of diamonds. I still will make my way by the Cartier window every time I'm at South Coast. Only now I will not have my rose colored glasses on when I admire the stones.

There is so much information about the torment and torture of the African people who are suffering from diamond fueled civil wars. The trauma that they face far exceeds anything I can express through words. I can't even begin to touch upon the horrendous damage done to millions of people and what it's like for them. I 'm not in that situation. I can't possibly even begin to imagine how they feel. But what I do know is that blood diamonds is a real, sobering, and pertinent issue that CANNOT be ignored. I think it is extremely important to know about the heartless company of De Beers and its history. And I can put the blame on De Beers, on the U.N., on the soulless people of the R.U.F. But that won't solve anything. I said to myself when I first started this blog that my main goal of writing about this issue was to educate people. I can't bring De Beers down. I can't stop the killing, raping, torture or the brain washing of children that transforms their innocence into a nightmare of evil. But I can be a voice. I can educate myself and others on how not to feed the enemy by knowing how to purchase conflict free diamonds. I can spread the word about blood diamonds.

Be a Smart Consumer

I promised that I would post information about how to buy clean diamonds. I think it is incredibly important for a consumer to be knowledgeable about how to purchase diamonds so that they are not unwittingly supporting an institution that deals with blood diamonds. There are several ways to go about ensuring that the diamond retailer sells conflict free stones. For starters, here are four questions you should ask the company:

1. Do you know where your diamonds come from?
   
2. May I see a copy of your company's policy on conflict diamonds?


3. Can you show me a written guarantee from your diamond suppliers stating that your diamonds are conflict free?


4. How can I be sure that none of your jewelry contains conflict diamonds?
   

The retailer should be more than willing to answer these questions and give you all the documentation necessary. At the top is a sample of a System of Warranties statement that they should have on hand for customer warranties. It should be updated on a yearly basis. DiamondFacts.org is the web site that has a copy of this document in case you want a closer look at it.

I cannot express how important it is for consumers to make sure they are buying conflict free stones. If no one checks, and no one holds the company responsible for proving they don't deal with conflict diamonds, then they are just as guilty as the dealer. We as consumers hold the power. It's up to us to demand that our diamonds are clean.

BLOWING OFF SOME STEAM

Here’s a quote from Israeli diamond writer Chaim Even-Zohar, published in the Blood Diamonds book:

"The brave man would write that the whole issue of war diamonds can only benefit De Beers."

I’m going to go off on this issue again. Guess I need to blow off some steam. Look at these pictures. They are heart wrenching. And De Beers is taking this abominable issue and smugly using it as leverage above other diamond companies as a way to increase their profits. They are in a sense portraying to the public, “look everyone, we do not deal with conflict diamonds and we are the ONLY company that can guarantee that our stones are clean. You should buy from us. We are a squeaky clean corporation.” Too bad some of the public is ignorant (just like I was) to the dark history of De Beers and to the fact that they are taking this issue and spinning it in their favor. It is despicable. I loath the ethics of this diamond giant.

Yuck

Ok so now I’m really mad. I discovered that De Beers is selling off its stockpile of diamonds. I’m not sure if it has all been sold off, but it’s in the process. Remember how I said that diamond prices would go down and their profits would decress if this happened? Well to make up for that, De Beers in 2001 joined with French luxury retailer LVMH in a business deal that would enter De Beers into the retail market for the first time ever. That’s when De Beers began selling both its rough and polished diamonds, and was the sole company to sell both. And that’s when De Beers began selling as a brand. Now, De Beers has stopped buying on the open market because of the conflict diamond issue. This means that once the stockpile is sold off in completion, De Beers will be the only company whose stones will have been in its possession from when it was obtained in private mines in Africa to when the diamonds are sold to consumers. Because De Beers owns its own diamond mines, they will be the only, the only company able to guarantee that the jewelry it sells is clean.

So why does this piss me off? Well because in essence, De Beers was able to take the horror of blood diamonds and use it as a marketing tool. Apparently people being slaughtered, amputated, rapped, forced to flee their county is a good marketing tool. And that’s exactly how the company is treating the issue. De Beers isn't cleaning up its act because they want to, they are doing it because one, they have to, and two because it creates a beneficial marketing plan. Yuck. F that. God forbid De Beers takes a human approach and doesn't look at the issue of conflict diamonds as a PR tactic but rather as an issue that needs to be taken on for the well being of the African race.

A Scary Thought

Trying to dig up dirt on De Beers is like pulling teeth. It’s painful. Well painful in the sense that there’s little to no information that currently condemns the company. Most of the research that I’ve done and the facts that I have are all after 2001 or so. Granted there’s enough about the history and senseless dealings of De Beers that makes me want to vomit, but recent news all praises De Beers for becoming a conflict free company and not tolerating blood diamonds in any way. I happen to believe that the reason why they are so adamant now about proclaiming their stance against conflict diamonds is because it gives them a greater marketing tool. That’s a whole issue in itself. But back to my point on digging up recent dirt on the slimy company. While reading more into my Blood Diamonds book, I discovered something which was a little bit scary. Here’s what I found:

“On June 8, 2001, De Beers officially disappeared from the radar. All publicly owned shares of the company and its subsidiaries were purchased by a consortium of buyers collectively called DB Investments. The absorption of the company from the South African and London stock exchanges into private hands means that De Beers no longer has to make detailed public financial reports to securities organizations or shareholders.” - Greg Campbell, author of Blood Diamonds

How is this possible? Apparently it is, and I guess that gives reason to why I can find little damning evidence against De Beers. What a scary thought.

The Bushmen Video

There's a video that's posted on the boycott De Beers web site that is really moving. It's a bit long, but so worth watching. I had no idea about this issue... I really despise The De Beers Group.

Bushmen Video

A Boycott

I came across an interesting web site today that shed more bad light on De Beers. It’s a web site promoting a boycott of De Beers. It focuses on another issue besides that of the company’s dealings with conflict diamonds. The site talks about how De Beers in collaboration with the Botswana government has forced the indigenous people of the Kalahari Desert (located in the southern African country of Botswana) out of their land and into camps. These people are called the Bushmen. Unfortunately for them, they happen to inhabit a land that is one of the “richest diamond producing areas in the world.” De Beers owns all of the diamond mines in that area of Africa, and operates hand in hand with the Botswana government. Together they have forced The Bushman off their land and into camps outside the diamond reserves.

I am mortified by this accusation. I can’t believe that De Beers would be involved in forcing people off their own territory. Well, actually I can believe that they would do such a thing. I guess if De Beers has no problem with dealing in blood diamonds, then it's no surprise that the company with such an immoral soul would push an entire indigenous population off their land.

De Beers and its Stockpile

The more and more I read about the inter workings of the De Beers Group, the more and more I am appalled by them. I discussed previously that De Beers is the largest buyer and seller in the world of diamonds, and controls how many stones make it to the market so they can control prices. According to Blood Diamonds, around 2000 De Beers had a stockpile of diamonds procured from all over the world, including warring regions in Africa, which totaled about $4 billion. Of course this hefty sum in actuality is a lot less than that because if the company ever decided to sell all of these diamonds, the price for rough stones would fall dramatically. Now taking into account this large amount of stones that was in the possession of De Beers since before 2000, there is no possible way that every single stone is conflict free. Granted in 2000 De Beers stopped its open market buying, but that means for a good ten years De Beers did business in a market with no restrictions on how stones were acquired. I posted a while back about a 1996 report that De Beers put out saying that their purchases reached “record highs” because of the production in Angola. Well that right there proves that undoubtedly somewhere in the $4 billion stockpile of diamonds, there are bound to be conflict stones. So not only is the company controlling the market price of diamonds, but who knows if the stones that they do put out on the market are really clean. Some food for thought perhaps. DON”T BUY FROM DE BEERS!

De Beers and the Mafia

In my last post I talked about “the syndicate” and how De Beers is a major player, if not the largest one in the game. I said how it was similar to some characteristics of the Mafia. Well here’s one more similarity, and one that deals directly with the ugly hidden side of De Beers. Here’s an excerpt from Campbell’s book:

“De Beers itself is treated almost like an organized crime operation in the United States; it’s barred from doing any business in America because it’s considered to be in violation of U.S. antitrust laws, which seek to prevent price fixing.” Controlling the number of diamonds that are released into the market from an enormous supply (mostly obtained from rebels in Africa…I will go into that later) is exactly like price fixing. In 2000, it was actually illegal for more than three executives from De Beers to be in America at once. Now that to me sounds like it is a trust worthy and admirable company. Ha ha. Too bad this doesn’t keep De Beers from doing business.

The Syndicate

I always thought the reason diamonds are so expensive was because they are rare, gorgeous stones that attract the human eye with their glittering facets. However, after reading more from Greg Campell’s book Blood Diamonds (which I highly recommend to anyone who wants to educate themselves about this topic) I learned there’s this little thing called “the syndicate”. It has been said that “the syndicate” holds some similarities to the Mafia. Oh how endearing. Basically, “the syndicate” is made up of diamond traders, brokers, smugglers, and sellers, all operating in a world that is set far apart from the consumers of diamonds. Lawyers are rare and hardly involved in this scene at all. Then there are the diamond houses that are owned, operated, and passed down by family members or tightly knit business partners. My favorite diamond company (insert sarcasm here), De Beers, is, and I quote Mr. Campbell on this, “the world’s largest diamond buyer and seller…[with] the monopolistic perk of both buying a commodity and placing a value on it.” So basically, De Beers is the largest operator of this so called “syndicate” and controls the amount of diamonds that are released into the market place, thus allowing the price of diamonds to remain high, and for De Beers to continue to regulate and hold control over the prices of their diamonds. Interesting…….

Cut Short

Last weekend I was at South Coast Plaza shopping for a formal dress. I was walking on the upper level and took my usual route that goes right by Cartier. I stopped for my usual five-minuet period to ogle over the latest diamond displays. This was the first time that I have done that since seeing the film Blood Diamond and learning about the issues behind conflict stones. As I stood there imagining myself wearing each set of fabulously large and flawless diamonds, my fantasy was cut short. That little voice that follows me around now every time I think about or look at diamonds shook me from my trance. It’s the voice that reminds me how 4% of imported diamonds came from conflict regions in Africa. Everything sure changes when you break out of those little bubbles of ignorance.

Getting Personal

As I was doing homework the other night, sitting at my desk, I glanced over at my bulletin board. Right in front of me was a magazine clipping that my mom had cut out and sent to me of a De Beers ad. It read:

Mountains have crumbled
Glaciers have melted
Continents have drifted
Diamonds have remained the same.
Clearly, Mother Nature is a romantic.

I love this ad – it’s the romantic in me. Yet as I sat there looking at it that night I felt an overwhelming compulsion to take it down and throw it away. I couldn’t help but think that this company, while capitalizing on the image of diamonds created by marketers is also at the same time capitalizing on the fact that few people realize the company’s intense and deep involvement with conflict stones. I looked back at the brilliant copy and then at the diamond ring that was shown at the bottom of the ad. Staring at the ring I suddenly realized that my entire passion and infatuation with diamonds had been tainted. I can no longer look at a ring, a necklace, earrings, anything made from the precious stone without wondering if it came illegally from some war torn area in Africa. I also began to realize that my anger towards The De Beers Group was intensifying. I can no longer respect their advertising, let alone the company. If I never would have researched this topic more, that ad would have still been posted on my wall, and I wouldn’t have thought twice about being skeptical of the company’s stance against selling conflict diamonds. Looking at that ad I also realized that I want the purpose of this blog to not only to educate about the issue, but to expose The De Beers Group. Even if only my classmates read this blog, that’s at least 20 people I can hope to convince not to buy from the company. (And I think everyone knows how strong word of mouth is….)
It’s on now De Beers. Are you ready to be cracked open and have all your skeletons in the closet revealed?