"Conflict Free" Diamonds

"Conflict diamonds" - sometimes referred to as "blood diamonds" - are receiving increasing publicity. The spotlight has fallen even more greatly on this issue due to the release back in January 2007 of the Hollywood blockbuster movie "Blood Diamond", starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone.

This is an issue which is - and always has been - extremely important for us at DeJoria. After reading the information below, we hope that you too will share our view and passionate approach to this issue.

The lure of diamonds as an ideal repository of illicit wealth for the unscrupulous has lead to wars that have raged in many diamond-producing countries of the world, resulting in massive levels of human suffering.

While diamond mines themselves are fought over, it is the gems which often become the cause of - and the fuel for - wars because they are such high-value commodities which were, until now, easily smuggled and traded into the legitimate diamond market.

Whilst a country such as Botswana is blessed with kimberlite pipes that enable an efficient, well-organised diamond mining industry and the benefication of diamond revenue, Sierra Leone, Angola, the Congo and other countries have alluvial diamonds that are scattered throughout their region in ancient riverbeds. The random distribution of diamond wealth in an impoverished society creates incredible problems and, in the case of Sierra Leone, enabled a horrible war. The problem is that unprotected wealth is a curse. Imagine if you gave your wife a £1 million diamond necklace and you do not provide her with any security. The inevitable will happen - she will be robbed, possibly mugged and the necklace will be stolen. Was that gift to your wife a blessing or a curse? Imagine a world where Sierra Leone's government is corrupted by diamond dealers. Liberia attacks the diamond areas that cannot be well protected because the diamonds are scattered all over the border region. Liberian soldiers and local rebel teenagers, powered by drugs and armed with AK-47s, turn the local population into slaves who dig for diamonds. The diamonds are then sold to raise money for more guns to enslave more people to dig for more diamonds. Welcome to Sierra Leone 1998 to 1999.

In 1998, Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) Global Witness brought to the world's attention that UNITA, a rebel group in Angola, was funding its war against the legitimate government by the control and sale of rough diamonds. We also know that rebel groups in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo were also funding conflicts in this way. Although peace has since been restored in Angola and Sierra Leone, and a cease-fire in the DRC, the diamond industry is determined to work with governments through the United Nations to ensure that future conflicts cannot be funded in this way.


THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS
The Kimberley Process, created in 2000, is recognised as the spearhead effort by the diamond industry and the diamond-producing countries to crack down on the multi-billion dollar trade in gems which have been, and are being, mined in war zones.

The ultimate aim of The Kimberley Process is to ensure that every rough diamond sold under the certification requirements imposed upon the Member States by The Kimberley Process, is guaranteed to be conflict-free. Currently, more than 60 diamond-producing countries and several high-profile independent charities concerned with human rights and welfare are party to the agreement. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme demands that each shipment of rough diamonds being exported and crossing an international border must be sealed in a tamper proof container accompanied by a government validated Kimberly Process certificate. This certificate is resistant to forgery, uniquely numbered and includes a description of the contents of the container. This shipment can be sent only to a country who is a Kimberly Process participant and rough diamonds which are re-exported must also have a Kimberly Process certificate and can only be sent to a participating country.

Approx 10 years, conflict diamonds accounted for around 4% of the world diamond supply. Today, due to the success to date of the Kimberley Process, this is more like 0.2%. However, we feel this is still 0.2% too much.

We have to work together to ensure we get it right. After all, let us consider the ethcial aspects of the diamond equation. The high value that society places on diamonds enables the transfer of wealth from the world's richest countries to some of its poorest. The fact is 65% of the world's diamonds - almost £4 billion per year - are produced in African developing countries. Botswana, the world's largest diamond producer, has the second-highest incidence of AIDS, with 37% of the adult population HIV positive and 160,000 orphans, as of 2003. Diamonds provide 75% of Botswana's foreign earnings. Sierra Leone is ranked the world's poorest country by the UN Human Development Index, with about 70% of its people living on less than 70p per day. Diamonds account for 94% of its exports. The fact is that diamonds are keeping these millions of people alive today.

You can visit www.kimberleyprocess.com and/or www.diamondfacts.org for more information.

THE DEJORIA PHILOSOPHY
At www.dejoria.co.uk, we believe that you should always insist that the diamonds used in diamond engagement rings, diamond eternity rings, diamond rings or diamond jewellery be "conflict-free", and therefore have a zero-tolerance approach to conflict diamonds. After all, diamonds embody love, and love should never be tarnished.

DeJoria wholeheartedly endorses every legitimate initiative to eradicate the disgraceful trade in conflict diamonds. We strive to assure that all our diamonds are "conflict-free" by purchasing our diamonds from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with United Nations resolution, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by our diamond suppliers. IF ANY OF OUR SUPPLIERS WERE EVER FOUND TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS, WE WOULD IMMEDIATELY SEVER THAT RELATIONSHIP. After all, not only do conflict diamonds wreak untold misery upon innocent and defenceless people (and all ethical diamond jewellers need to make a stand against this) but we recognise that our customers need the assurance that the diamond they are buying - a symbol of their love for another person - is a legitimate, genuine, conflict-free gem.

DEJORIA'S POLICY & PROCEDURES
As a member of the British Jewellers' Association, www.dejoria.co.uk supports the initiative of the United Nations and the World Diamond Council (The Kimberley Process) to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate supply chains of the diamond industry. To ensure that only these legitimate diamonds, when cut and polished, pass into the jewellery manufacturing process, we participate in the system of warranties and the Code of Conduct issued by the World Diamond Council on 29th October 2002 and endorsed by the British Jewellers' Association. Under the WDC Code of Conduct, www.dejoria.co.uk will;

- Not buy diamonds from firms who will not put a conflict diamonds warranty on their invoices
- Not buy diamonds from suspect or unknown sources or from countries not participating in the Kimberley Process
- Not buy diamonds from a source found to have violated Government regulations on conflict diamonds
- Not buy diamonds from regions where Government advice indicates that conflict diamonds are emanating or on sale unless they have been exported under the Kimberley Process
- Not knowingly buy or sell or assist others to buy or sell conflict diamonds
- Ensure that all company employees who buy and sell diamonds are well informed about the Kimberley Process and industry self-regulation.

All our suppliers have been advised that each invoice they send us covering diamonds (or jewellery which contains diamonds) must carry the following warranty and that if they fail to supply this warranty, we will not place further orders with them:

"The diamonds herin invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in the funding of conflict and in compliance with United Nations Resolutions. The seller hereby guarantees that these diamonds are conflict-free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the supplier of these diamonds."

In certain cases where diamonds may have been mined before the introduction of the Kimberley Process in January 2003, we will accept the following warranty;

"The Seller will not knowingly sell conflict diamonds and to the best of our ability we will undertake reasonable measures to help prevent the sale of conflict diamonds in this country."

In turn, we will pass on these warranties to our retail customers to enable them to be confident in the integrity of their supply chain.

We understand that the British Jewellers' Association may contact us to investigate any complaint that we have not supplied the appropriate warranties to our retail customers.