Diamonds that are designated as conflict diamonds come out of countries where people are killed and maimed over diamonds. In general, this has occurred because of wars going on in these particular countries. Because diamonds are worth so much, the fighting parties use them to fund the wars and are willing to go to any lengths to get those diamonds. In general, these wars in Agola, Liberia, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and other countries occurred before the year 2000. There is no question that what was going on was wrong in every way. The good news is that not all of those wars are going on anymore and there are now regulations in place to try to keep diamonds from countries that are still at war, out of the world diamond trade.

When the atrocities occurring in Africa came to the attention of the rest of the world, the United Nation Security Council got involved and banned some countries from exporting diamonds at all and encouraged the development of a way to track where diamonds come from. The World Diamond Council was created in 2000 and two years later they developed the Kimberly Process.

Countries who wish to export diamonds have to be a member of the Kimberly Process which is a system designed to track diamonds coming out of Africa and ensure that they have not been used to fund wars. This tracking system ideally will track each diamond from participating countries from the mine all the way to the retail counter. Using this process, the consumer should be able to see their diamond’s papers telling them where it came from.

Of course this system is not perfect. There are still countries that the UN has banned from exporting diamonds and no one knows how many of these sneak into the stream of legally exported diamonds. It is a problem that is still being looked at.

If these regulations do not ease your mind, there are other options for buying diamonds. There are several mines in Canada that are currently producing diamonds. These mines are heavily regulated by the Canadian government and each stone is inscribed with a serial number to track it. Canadian diamonds are more expensive than African diamonds though, so be prepared to spend a little more if you want a certified Canadian diamond.

Russia also has diamond mines. Russia has stricter policies about exporting though so you may have trouble finding a diamond from Russia.

If you like colored diamonds, there are now lab-created diamonds on the market. They are graded the same way as natural diamonds but are grown in a lab rather than in the ground. The down side is that there are no white lab-diamonds on the market.

The industry as well as the United Nations is trying very hard to stop conflict diamonds from getting onto the market at all and their efforts go a long way to ease my conscience. I don’t know that completely boycotting African diamonds is the way to go either way. There are countries in Africa that rely heavily on the revenue from their mines and they are not committing any crimes. I think diamonds are a very personal purchase and whether or not you would prefer to buy a stone that is certified from Canada rather than Africa is just another choice to be made when choosing the right stone for you.

The other day I was watching Rachael Ray and she was talking about gifts and things and she had two jewelry professionals in her studio talking about jewelry and what to look for if you don’t have a huge budget but still want something pretty. I was interested but had low hopes for her segment since usually people don’t say anything of real interest about jewelry on their shows. I was really impressed! The women that were brought on to talk about specific things to look for said everything I’ve ever said (it’s always good to be validated.)

The first thing they touched on was, of course, diamonds. They really focused on the cut of the stone. She said that if a stone is cut well, it can compensate for a slightly lower clarity and color. If a stone is well cut, it will sparkle so you don’t see the other things.

They also talked about gold and what to look for when you buy gold. I haven’t ever really talked about gold but I thought they hit every important point. A big determination for price of gold is the karatage. 24 karat gold is pure gold and you will probably never see jewelry made of 24 karat gold because it is too soft. The most common karat you see in the US is 14 karat gold. You will also see 18 karat gold in higher end stores and 10 karat gold in slightly lower end stores. In other countries you will see both 22 karat and 12 karat gold but those are generally not seen in US stores.

Gram weight is hugely important with gold, especially right not when gold prices are so high. The heavier the gold weight, the more expensive the piece. This generally means that if you are looking for a big flashy piece, it is going to cost a little bit more. You can find some chains with hollow links that will give you a big look without the weight.

It was kind of fun to watch a show with good information about jewelry that wasn’t too overwhelming but that was 100% accurate!

For a complete synopsis of the jewelry segment on the Rachael Ray show go to http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/save-vs-splurge-jewelry/.

In case you don’t already know, most of the jewelry worn on the red carpet is borrowed. Big name jewelers lend big ticket items to the stars for the same reason big name designers give away clothes, to get their name out there. I think it’s an awesome way to get publicity and I hope I’m in a position someday to have someone famous wear one of my pieces!

All in all though, it seemed like people were disappointed in the jewels represented. There was almost no color and even the diamonds were understated. By far though, the trends are still clear. Bracelets and earrings–big earrings.

Here are a few designs I’ve done for some bracelets with matching earrings and ring (I had to do rings because they are MY favorite accessory.)

This wide bangle would be great in gold or silver. The rendering is with several different colored stones but you could choose any stones.

This link bracelet with matching earrings and ring would also be great in either gold or silver. This render is with diamonds but you could use color if you wanted!

This bracelet is rendered in white gold and rose gold but you could use any combination of metals and you could use silver for part or all of the pieces to lower the price.