Chocolate SSC: The Good Valentine

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Jewelry

As the recent blockbuster Blood Diamond so vividly illustrated, diamonds come with a cost that extends far beyond the jeweler's cash register. The trade of conflict diamonds, or diamonds used to buy small arms and fund wars, may have been reduced to less than one percent of the world's supply by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (see "Jewelry: Brightness Redeemed"), but they're still traded. And due to the high prices they command, even the smallest shipment of conflict diamonds can supply warlords with millions of dollars worth of guns and ammunition. Conflicts aside, in countries such as Sierra Leone, where the trade of conflict diamonds has been effectively stunted, abandoned mines have turned into vast craters filled with stagnant water, which serve as a primary breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquitoes and are posing health threats to local residents.

Rather than purchase new jewels, opt for antiques or "estate" jewelry; check your local newspaper for estate sales. Otherwise, support ethical jewelers such as Brilliant Earth (www.brilliantearth.com) and Leber Jewelers (www.leberjewelers.com), both of whom purchase diamonds from well-monitored mines in Canada, and Moonrise Jewelry (www.moonrisejewelry.com), whose Eco Jewelry Collection utilizes fairly traded semi-precious gemstones from the U.S. and South America.

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