At first glance, the idea of conflict-free engagement rings seems obvious. After all, aren’t engagement rings supposed to be about love? Unfortunately, the story behind many of the diamonds you see in stores is not as happy as it might appear. Read on to learn about ethical diamonds and why they’re so important when shopping for jewelry.
The Hidden World of Diamond Production
In 1888, the DeBeers Consolidated Mines discovered a wealth of diamonds in a farm called Vooruitzicht in Orange Free State, the Boshof district, South Africa. After the Great Depression of the 1930s, they managed to raise the global demand for diamonds with their brilliant campaign “A diamond is forever.” However, as so often occurs when there’s money to be made, the dark side of human nature began to express itself in horrific ways.
By the 1990s, many of the violent conflicts in the tragic civil wars of Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were being funded by (often illegal) diamond mining. And the worst part of the entire deal was that long supply chains and inadequate traceability meant that unsuspecting couples were unknowingly supporting these wars!
The Awareness of Conflict-Free Engagement Rings Grows
All of this began to change with the release of the political war thriller Blood Diamond in 2006. Based on many true stories, this film made customers aware for the very first time that their engagement rings weren’t necessarily conflict-free. After a huge push-back from jewelry customers around the world, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was established and small jewelry companies became a lot more interested in developing a shorter and more transparent supply chain.
How We Source our Diamonds at AZEERA
From the outset, we, the founders of AZEERA — Puneet and Rohan — set out to create a business that was truly unique. Not only would we offer an extremely personalized service to our customers, but we would also go above and beyond to ensure that your gemstone and engagement rings were truly conflict-free.
How We Source our Gemstones
For gemstones other than diamond, blue sapphire, and ruby, we purchase the rough gems directly from mines that our families have known for generations. These gems are then sorted, cut, polished, and graded in our family facility in Jaipur, India.
The three precious gems that we use in our jewelry are purchased already cut from trusted suppliers that have been internationally certified. Our ethical diamonds, for example, come from GIA-certified companies that must meet very strict standards. In addition to being conflict-free, these stones also come with a grading report that includes an extremely comprehensive quality analysis.
Invest in Conflict-Free Engagement Rings from AZEERA
Conflict-free engagement rings from AZEERA are truly a work of art — with ethical diamonds, colored gems, top-quality metals, and cutting-edge modeling and printing technology. Beyond the quality of the raw materials, we also offer full customization on any of our pre-designed rings or your very own custom ring designed completely from scratch.
If you’re interested in exploring design ideas for a truly unique engagement ring, please contact our designers for a free consultation.
