Blood Diamonds

Pirates of old wouldn't have had any moral qualms about the origin of the diamonds they looted. Today we buy our diamonds legitimately - and pay much more attention to their provenance. In particular most of us want to avoid buying blood diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds.

What Are Blood (Conflict) Diamonds?

Blood diamonds are those that have been sold in order to support armed conflict, be it war with other countries, civil war or internal suppression. As you might expect many such diamonds originate from Africa, a continent with many diamonds and much warfare.

Few of us would want to think of the money from our diamond ring purchase going to fund such activities. So how do we avoid blood diamonds? Well, most legitimate dealers sell only diamonds from countries certified by the Kimberley Process.

What Is The Kimberley Process?

The Kimberley process has been running since 2003 and is described as:

"a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments"

Fortunately for those living in countries suffering from internal warfare, the situation in many of them has improved in recent years. It's estimated that - thanks in part to the Kimberley Process - less than 1% of the world diamond market now (2009) consists of these rebel blood diamonds. This compares extremely well with an estimate of some 15% in the 1990s.